Tomato and Sweet Potato Noodles: A Bowl of Happy Autumn Vegetable Fare

I have gotten to know a few farmer moms in northern and central Taiwan, and when the seasonal fruits and vegetables are in abundant surplus, they almost always share them with a crowd of relatives and friends beyond their own retail sales, and I am one of the lucky beneficiaries.

In early October, I happened to receive at the same time small tomatoes from Puzi, Chiayi, and yellow sweet potatoes from Yangmingshan, and in no small quantity either, which left me a little worried! A sudden idea came to me: why not combine these two fruits and vegetables and just make them into a sauce? After all, one person can never finish it all, so by the way I could also take it to win over the neighbors.

The seasonal sweet potatoes grown by the farmer friends on the northern mountain carry a light sweetness that is not cloying, while the small tomatoes from the south are almost at the end of their season, not exactly sweet, but their tartness is just right! I wanted to use the natural qualities of these two fruits and vegetables to make a savory sauce, and it happens that neither has a strong flavor, so they do not compete with each other. But if it is to be made into a savory sauce, there must be a mediating ingredient between the two to harmonize them. Suddenly I remembered how Italian pasta sauce is made, and I felt that the mediator had to be garlic.

Boil the sweet potatoes, pull the stems off the small tomatoes, crush the garlic, put them all into a blender, add just a little water, a bit of black pepper, and rely on the sweetness and starch of the sweet potato to hold all the sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavors together. Then, depending on what vegetables you have on hand, use them as the side vegetables for the noodles, stir-fry them over high heat until fragrant, then welcome the sweet potato tomato sauce and the half-cooked noodles and braise-stir-fry everything together for 2-3 minutes. Once the sauce, side vegetables and noodles are fully combined, it is ready to come off the heat.

Ingredients:
Tomatoes, sweet potatoes, garlic, Chinese chives, shiitake mushrooms, long beans, white pepper, soy sauce, noodles (homestyle noodles or Italian pasta both work)

Method:

1. Steam the sweet potatoes until cooked, then put them with the tomatoes and garlic, add black pepper or salt, and put everything into a blender → blend into a puree
2. Chinese chives, shiitake mushrooms, long beans → stir-fry until fragrant, season with soy sauce, white pepper, etc.
3. Cook the noodles until half done, braise them into 1+2 → stir-fry together