No chopping, dipping, or marinating is needed. Salt and pepper potato is a no-fuss recipe that only requires steaming and sautéeing the potatoes with seasonings.
You only need 4 ingredients: small potatoes, Chinese salt and pepper seasoning, white sesame seeds, and green onions. It’s the perfect afternoon snack or side dish for just about anything.
What Is Salt And Pepper Potato?
Potatoes are one of the easiest vegetables to prepare and are great with a wide variety of dishes. It is perfect for a light snack that is super fast and easy to make.
In this recipe, the steps only involve steaming the potatoes to make them soft and ready for stir-frying with seasonings.
Stir-frying it in the pan gives it its golden and crispy finish. It is seasoned with white sesame seeds, chopped green onions, and its signature flavoring – Chinese salt and pepper seasoning.
With salt and pepper seasoning, it gives the potatoes an amazing flavor that is a combination of sweet, salty, savory, warm, and earthy.
It’s a mix of different tastes since this isn’t your ordinary salt and pepper. Chinese salt and pepper seasoning is a blend of Sichuan peppercorn, fennel seed, shrimp skin, white sesame, salt, Chinese Five Spice Powder, and paprika. It is a different kind of kick of flavor, so I recommend making this yourself from scratch or purchasing it at your local grocery store.
Cooking Tips And Alternatives For Salt And Pepper Potatoes
If you need to customize or use substitutes, follow my recommendations below. I also added some cooking techniques that I found helpful when making this dish.
Read these guidelines before proceeding to the recipe instructions.
- Type Of Potato: Use small potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes so you don’t have to chop them into smaller pieces. Using medium to large potatoes is fine, but you’ll need to cut them into smaller pieces to prepare for stir-frying. Before steaming the potatoes, wash them thoroughly with running water to remove dirt and debris.
- Cooking Technique: I recommend steaming the potatoes before stir-frying them. This will make it soft and faster to cook when stir-frying with seasonings. Although you can fry it in a pan with oil to cook it, it will take longer to soften compared to steaming. Aside from steaming the potatoes, you can also parboil them but just make sure not to overboil. It is difficult to stir-fry potatoes that are overboiled or oversteamed since they become too soft and break easily.
- Potato Skin: I removed the skin of the potatoes after steaming and cooling them down. Removing the skin is ideal if you want smooth or delicate potatoes. However, leaving the skin on is perfectly acceptable if you prefer eating potato skins. If you prefer this dish with the skin, be sure to clean it thoroughly to remove any dirt and debris.
- Cooking oil: Opt for cooking oil with a high smoke point to reduce oxidation. Moreover, oils with high smoke points are able to withstand high temperatures longer. Among the oils you can use are sesame, avocado, sunflower, canola, and peanut.
- Green onion: Green onions or spring onions add color and a bit of sweetness to potatoes. You can substitute green onions with scallions, which are a bit sharp and peppery to taste. Other alternatives that go well with potatoes are red, white, or yellow onions. There is a hint of sweetness to red and white onions, while a strong and deep flavor to yellow onions. If you don’t have fresh onions but want to add an oniony taste, you can use onion powder instead.
- Salt and pepper seasoning: Since it is a unique blend of six spices, this seasoning cannot be substituted unless you make one yourself. The salt and pepper seasoning is worth the effort since it can be used for a variety of salt and pepper dishes too, such as salt and pepper tofu, salt and pepper pork chops, and salt and pepper chicken wings.
- White sesame seeds: White sesame seeds have a nutty flavor and a crunchy texture. It also adds color to the dish. Black sesame seeds can be substituted for white sesame seeds, but are typically more potent than white. It is completely fine to omit the sesame seeds if you don’t have them since it does not really have a noticeable difference in taste and texture.
How To Store And Reheat Salt And Pepper Potatoes
Stir-fried dishes like salt and pepper potatoes should be eaten while steaming and crispy. If there are leftover potatoes, they should be kept in the fridge within 2 hours after it is cooked. Keep in mind food should not be left out for 2 hours or more since this can lead to bacteria buildup.
It should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and consumed within three days after being cooked. When stored in the fridge, it loses its crispiness and becomes mushy. In order to bring back its crispy texture, you can reheat it using an oven, air fryer, or skillet.
- Oven or air fryer: Reheat the potatoes for 5 to 10 minutes at 350°F to 400°F. Temperature and time will depend on how much potatoes need to be reheated.
- Skillet: On medium heat, fry it with 1 tbsp oil or toast it without oil.
- Microwave: Using a microwave is the last option since it usually turns food soggy. While it will heat up the potatoes, it won’t restore their crispness.
What You Need To Make Salt And Pepper Potatoes
Basically, it is an easy recipe that requires just a few basic ingredients and kitchenware. You’ll need a steamer and a non-stick pan. I recommend using a non-stick pan so that the golden color of the potatoes can be preserved and won’t stick to the pan. If you don’t have a steamer, you can simply use a pot with a lid and place a steamer basket inside or anything that can be used to drain the steamed potatoes.
Kitchenware
- Steamer or (pot and lid with a steamer basket)
- Non-stick pan
- Spatula
- Knife
- Chopping board
Ingredients
- 500g small potatoes
- Oil (adjust the amount according to the amount of potatoes)
- 10g green onions
- 10g or more of salt and pepper seasoning
- 10g white sesame seeds
Steps To Make Salt And Pepper Potatoes
Simply put, you only need to steam the potatoes, remove the skin, and stir-fry it with seasonings. As far as I can tell, the only time-consuming step is removing the skin of the potatoes.
So, if you like it fast, you can skip this step. As for the rest of the recipe, it’s super easy and fast to prepare. Watch my short tutorial videos on Instagram and Tiktok to learn more.
Wash the potatoes to remove dirt and debris. Prepare your steaming equipment and steam the potatoes after washing them. Steam the potatoes for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, check if the potatoes are cooked by poking chopsticks or a fork into the potatoes. If you can pierce through the potatoes with ease, then your potatoes are cooked.
Remove the potatoes from the steamer and allow them to cool. When it is comfortable to touch, peel off the skin.
Then, prepare a pan with oil and heat it up. The oil should be hot before putting the potatoes. If the oil is not hot enough, the potatoes will stick to the pan and absorb the oil.
Once the oil is hot, gently stir-fry the potatoes over medium heat until fragrant and golden brown. Allow one side of the potato to cook until lightly brown before turning on the other side. Careful not to overmix or turn too much, or the potatoes might crumble from the stirring. You want to maintain its shape and color. Remember, the potatoes are soft and already cooked because of the steaming step. Stir-frying is only needed to give you that nice crisp appearance and enhance the flavor.
Next, sprinkle salt and pepper seasoning on all sides of the potatoes. You can sprinkle as much as you want.
Then, add white sesame seeds and chopped green onions.
Mix the seasonings well until the potatoes are evenly coated. As a result, it should have a slightly charred finish.
Enjoy this savory and delicious salt and pepper potatoes with Tofu With Minced Pork & Mushrooms, Black Pepper Beef Stir-fry, or Chinese-Style Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings.
Salt And Pepper Potatoes
Equipment
- Steamer or (pot and lid with a steamer basket)
- Non-stick pan
- Spatula
- Knife
- Chopping board
Ingredients
- 500 g small potatoes
- Oil adjust the amount according to the amount of potatoes
- 10 g green onions
- 10 g or more of salt and pepper seasoning
- 10 g white sesame seeds
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes to remove dirt and debris.
- Prepare your steaming equipment and steam the potatoes after washing them.
- Steam the potatoes for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, check if the potatoes are cooked by poking chopsticks or a fork into the potatoes. If you can pierce through the potatoes with ease, then your potatoes are cooked.
- Remove the potatoes from the steamer and allow them to cool.
- When it is comfortable to touch, peel off the skin.
- Then, prepare a pan with oil and heat it up. The oil should be hot before putting the potatoes. If the oil is not hot enough, the potatoes will stick to the pan and absorb the oil.
- Once the oil is hot, gently stir-fry the potatoes over medium heat until fragrant and golden brown. Allow one side of the potato to cook until lightly brown before turning on the other side. Careful not to overmix or turn too much, or the potatoes might crumble from the stirring. You want to maintain its shape and color. Remember, the potatoes are soft and already cooked because of the steaming step. Stir-frying is only needed to give you that nice crisp appearance and enhance the flavor.
- Next, sprinkle salt and pepper seasoning on all sides of the potatoes. You can sprinkle as much as you want.
- Then, add white sesame seeds and chopped green onions.
- Mix the seasonings well until the potatoes are evenly coated. As a result, itt should have a slightly charred finish.
- Enjoy this savory and delicious salt and pepper potatoes with Tofu With Minced Pork & Mushrooms, Black Pepper Beef Stir-fry, or Chinese-Style Salt And Pepper Chicken Wings.
