Yin, Yang and Yam

"Don’t take the silence of the yams as a sign that they have nothing valuable to say about health."

Those yams have been left cold on the bench. The whole month of June has just been hectic!

I don't remember when exactly yams became a regular part of my diet. According to the fanatic cook, yams are highly nutritious. Each cup of yam contains almost 7g of fiber, a nice amount when we are working towards 30 or 40g a day. And, what's even more amazing is how much beta carotene it contains. There's no RDA for beta carotene, but 12mg is thought to provide enough vitamin A. A cup of yam gives you 23mg already! Beta carotene does two jobs. First, it can be converted into vitamin A, whose benefits include good vision, bone health, immunity and moist glowing skin. Second, it roams the body scavenging free radicals, effectively acting as an antioxidant.

Yam is quite filling. A small piece of it can well serve half of my dinner. So, after a hectic day of work, I eat a piece of yam along with simple stuff like a small bowl of noodles. Baking a yam is a good simple idea but I prefer something more soothing. A yam soup dessert always finds its place on my dining table.

It's a very Cantonese way to make it. The ginger and the brown sugar go just perfectly well with yams.

Get those purple ones if you can. Their succulence can drive you mad. Go for the yellow ones if you want those starchy egg-yolk touches in your mouth.

Peel off the skin and chop the yam into chewable pieces. Bring them to the boil for 15 mins with generous slices of ginger. Add a chunk of brown sugar, give it another 5 and it's done!

In Chinese philosophy, we have yin to represent the female principle of the universe (dark and negative) and yang to do the male side (light and positive). That silent, delicate spectrum inbetween... I think we literally call it yam!