Danish Sugar Potatoes

I love different traditional holiday foods and one that I found particularly fascinating this year was Danish Sugar Potatoes. When I first read about them, I didn't think I'd like them, but I found I really loved them after I ate them alongside an amazing Danish Roast Pork with very crispy skin, delicious Roast Duck and a delightfully sweet and sour Red Cabbage dish that were all served for Christmas Eve. Can you tell how much I loved this meal?  And the big surprise was how much I enjoyed this dish.  One taste and I was sold! These potatoes were so good and they were really easy to make. This recipe can certainly be doubled or triple for a group. I really think you should try this dish as you will be surprised by how much you like them too!

Danish Sugar Potatoes

15 small new potatoes

1/4 cup sugar

4 Tablespoons Salted Butter

2 Tablespoons Water

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender (check with a sharp knife) for about 20 minutes.  Remove and drain and allow to cool slightly and then peel them.

Put sugar in a large frying pan and cook, without stirring - just swirling until the sugar melts and gets caramelized and golden brown.  Stir in the butter and water and add potatoes.  Cook until the potatoes brown, which will take about 5 minutes.

Five Element Analysis

This is really a completely Earthy dish, which is why it is a good choice as a side for Roast Pork, which is a Water Element food and Duck, which is also a Water meat. Potatoes are a very grounding Earth food and they strengthen the yin of the body, which often gets depleted during the craziness of the holidays. However, in order to have a balanced meal, be sure to serve a Wood vegetable and bring in some more Fire and Metal foods too.  But this is a really good side dish when you need to add more Earth to a meal and I think you will enjoy eating it and enhancing your yin too!