Healthy Winter Eats: A Dutch Delicacy in Beijing

Stamppot (mash pot) is a traditional Dutch dish of potatoes and vegetables, mashed together as the name implies. The Dutch eat it with brown gravy, sausage, and sometimes bacon. I decided to cook my favorite variation: boerenkool stamppot (farmer’s cabbage and kale) – the ultimate comfort food. Dutch people ate kale long before it got hip in the rest of the world and is our staple vegetable.

In the Netherlands, prepared stamppot can be bought in supermarkets and at the butcher. Kale and other stamppot vegetables are found cut and washed in bags at the grocery store, especially in the winter. An array of smoked sausages can be found anywhere in the Netherlands (never sweet like those you find in Beijing) but always nice and salty.

As for where to get the ingredients, I found many stalls selling kale at Sanyuanli. In fact, my favorite vendor once asked what I was doing with all this kale, and I explained to her, using only my hands and feet that I mash it up in potatoes. When she saw me, she pointed at the kale and laughed.

Boerenkool Stamppot can be prepared two ways: one way is to put the kale in a big pot with peeled potatoes on the top or underneath the kale, cooking both until tender and then mashing them together. The other way is cooking the kale and potatoes separate, and mashing them together when cooked. I prefer the latter method since the kale and potatoes need different cooking times. Half of the Netherlands will disagree with my recipe, but try it and you will see that the kale tastes so much better when not cooked to death.

Ingredients 

• 1/2k kale
• 1k potatoes
• 250g bacon sliced into cubes
• 50g butter
• 50ml warm milk

Instructions

1. Salt and pepper to taste
2. Clean the kale
3. Trim the leaves and cut them
4. Peel and cut the potatoes to similar sizes
5. Boil the potatoes in water with salt until tender
6. Drain the water
7. Mash the potatoes with the milk and butter
8. In another pot render the bacon and remove from the pot, leave the bacon fat
9. In the bacon fat sauté the kale till tender (about 10 minutes)
10. Fold together the mashed potatoes, kale, bacon and then heat up together
11. Serve with smoked sausage and brown gravy

This blog post first appeared on our sister website beijingkids.

READ: Try This Stick-to-Your-Ribs Red-Cooked Pork Belly Recipe Fit for Winter Days

Photo: eetpaleosuikervrij, mijntuin.org