Baked Sweet Potatoes with Whipped Maple Butter & Vietnamese Green Sauce

Sandy Truong An Tran Ho is an Australian-born, Los Angeles-based professional chef, food stylist, and the founder of Sandita’s — a food company that hosts events and pop-ups around the world. Sandita’s champions local makers and farmers with nostalgic menus of Vietnamese flavors and an artful approach to plating and food design.

These baked sweet potatoes are a nod to the classic sweet potato casserole — replacing marshmallows with salty, maple whipped butter and a punch of funk and freshness with Sandy’s signature Vietnamese green sauce.

Sweet potatoes

5 medium purple sweet potatoes

3 tbs salt

Olive oil

Method

Preheat oven to 330°F

Wash potatoes and dry well

Coat liberally in olive oil and salt

Place in oven to cook for 1 hr. Potatoes should be fork-tender when ready

Whipped Maple Butter

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

3 tbs maple syrup

½ tsp flakey sea salt

Method

Place butter in a mixing bowl and using an electric whisk, beat until light and fluffy. About 3-4 minutes

Add the syrup and salt and mix for another 20 seconds until evenly combined

Serve over hot potatoes or pipe into a bowl so everyone can take as much as they like! Leftovers are also great the next day on toast

Vietnamese Green Sauce

1 bunch of cilantro (leaves and stems), finely chopped

1 small watermelon radish, finely diced

1 tbs ginger, finely minced

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Juice of 1-2 limes (I used 1.5 juicy medium limes)

1 tsp white sugar

1-2 fresh Thai chili, finely sliced

2 tbs fish sauce

2-3 tbs olive oil

Method

Add all ingredients into a small mixing bowl and combine well. Adjust seasoning to your liking with a little extra salt, more chili, or lemon juice.

To serve, crack open hot potatoes, add a generous dollop of maple butter, and another generous scoop of the Vietnamese green sauce