The Rise Sweet Potatoes with Garlic-Fermented Shrimp Butter

With this recipe, adapted from The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food, chef Marcus Samuelsson pays tribute to David Zilber, a chef who until mid-2020 was director of fermentation at Noma, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Director of fermentation! We love funk of all sorts, and can’t resist a roasted sweet potato, so this recipe — the first in the book — was the first we tried. It’s positively luscious. The original recipe doesn’t specify what variety of sweet potato to use; the photo in the book appears to be garnets, so that's what I used. They happen to be my favorite.

Read our review of The Rise.

Serves 4.

Sweet potatoes with garlic-fermented shrimp butter, prepared from a recipe adapted from The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food by Marcus Samuelsson. The recipe is a tribute to chef David Zilber, former director of fermentation at Noma.

Ingredients

4 medium sweet potatoes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon fermented shrimp paste

1 soft, ripe avocado, pitted and peeled

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)

The leaves from 4 sprigs fresh thyme

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Rub the sweet potatoes with the vegetable oil and salt, and wrap each individually in aluminum foil. Bake until tender, 45 to 60 minutes. Let cool.

2. While they are roasting, place the butter, garlic and shrimp paste into a small saucepan set over low heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring continually, for 2 to 3 minutes. Adjust the heat if necessary to maintain a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the garlic has softened slightly. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

3. Once the potatoes are cooked and the butter is cooled, place the butter-garlic mixture, avocado, lemon juice, sweet soy sauce and thyme leaves in the bowl of a small food processor and process until smooth. Serve the sweet potatoes with the flavored butter.


The Rise Sweet Potatoes with Garlic-Fermented Shrimp Butter

The Rise Sweet Potatoes with Garlic-Fermented Shrimp Butter

Yield: 4 servings
Author: Recipe from Marcus Samuelsson; adaptation and headnote by Leslie Brenner
With this recipe, adapted from The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food, chef Marcus Samuelsson pays tribute to David Zilber, a chef who until mid-2020 was director of fermentation at Noma, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Director of fermentation! We love funk of all sorts, and can’t resist a roasted sweet potato, so this recipe — the first in the book — was the first we tried. It’s positively luscious. The original recipe doesn’t specify what variety of sweet potato to use; the photo in the book appears to be garnets, so that's what I used. They happen to be my favorite.

Ingredients

  • 4 medium sweet potatoes
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon fermented shrimp paste
  • 1 soft, ripe avocado, pitted and peeled
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
  • The leaves from 4 sprigs fresh thyme

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Rub the sweet potatoes with the vegetable oil and salt, and wrap each individually in aluminum foil. Bake until tender, 45 to 60 minutes. Let cool.
  2. While they are roasting, place the butter, garlic and shrimp paste into a small saucepan set over low heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring continually, for 2 to 3 minutes. Adjust the heat if necessary to maintain a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the garlic has softened slightly. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
  3. Once the potatoes are cooked and the butter is cooled, place the butter-garlic mixture, avocado, lemon juice, sweet soy sauce and thyme leaves in the bowl of a small food processor and process until smooth. Serve the sweet potatoes with the flavored butter.
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Vegetables, Side Dishes
American
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