Get creative with potatoes with Chef Kalel Chan's recipes

Chef Kalel Chan. Karen Flores Layno, ABS-CBN News

"There are so many things you can do with potatoes," said Chef Kalel Chan of Raintree Restaurants, which operates dining concepts such as Chotto Matte, Friends and Family, Jones All Day, and Farmer's Table Tagaytay. 

The young chef enjoys playing around with this ingredient, using fresh, frozen, and dehydrated variants to make gnocchi, mochi, and even rice. 

"Puwede mo siyang gawing Yang Chow rice," he shared. "Di ba merong cauliflower rice? You can also do that with potatoes." 

Recently, Chan had another chance to showcase his creativity after being tapped by Potatoes USA, which represents America's potato growers and importers, for a cooking demo with members of the media. 

The organization hopes to further strengthen its presence in the Philippines, where it is the top exporter of potato products such as straight-cut fries.

Potato ramen

For his first recipe, Chan made fresh noodles out of potato granules, all-purpose flour, salt, eggs, and water. 

He served it with his own take on dan dan sauce using tahini, chicken stock, soy sauce, and spices, resulting in a simple yet tasty dish. 

US Potato Noodles with Dan Dan Sauce. Karen Flores Layno, ABS-CBN News

Want to try making this at home? Here's the recipe:

Chef Kalel Chan's US Potato Noodles with Dan Dan Sauce (serves 4)

Ingredients for the potato noodles:

• - 200g standard potato granules
• - 250g all-purpose flour
• - 3g salt
• - 4 eggs (depends on size)
• - 200ml water
• - 50g all-purpose flour (for dusting)

Ingredients for the dan dan sauce: 

• - 3g Sichuan ground pepper
• - 10g sugar
• - 20g prepared chili oil (rayu oil)
• - 5g grated garlic
• - 100g tahini
• - 1g five-spice
• - 1 cup hot chicken stock

Procedure: 

1. Mix the dried ingredients together in a big stainless bowl with a wire whisk, except the 50g flour for dusting.
2. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and mix the wet and dry mixture together. When it gets stiff, knead the dough by hand.
3. Form a ball of dough and let it rest in the chiller for at least one hour. 
4. Cut the dough into 4 and form each like a ball. Dust the table and the balls with flour, and knead them one by one with a rolling pin. Once flattened with the desired thickness, fold the dough and cut it by hand into noodles.
5. Boil water with salt and cook the noodles for 2 minutes. 
6. While the noodles are boiling, make the dan dan sauce. In a bowl, mix tahini, soy sauce, chili oil, sugar, Sichuan pepper, grated garlic, and five-spice. Add hot chicken stock if you want to make the dan dan sauce thinner. 
7. Once the noodles are done, strain and pour the dan dan sauce on top. 

Mapo Tofu fries

Chan adds a fun Asian twist to chili cheese fries in his second recipe, where he used mapo tofu as a topping to US seasoned crisp fries. 

Quick and easy to make, this spicy and cheesy appetizer is a sure hit at house parties and get-togethers. 

Mapo Tofu Potato Cheese Fries. Karen Flores Layno, ABS-CBN News

Here's the recipe so you can try making it at home:

Chef Kalel Chan's Mapo Tofu Potato Cheese Fries (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• - 20g cooking oil
• - 20g garlic
• - 20g ginger
• - 20g onions
• - 200g ground pork
• - 40g shoyu
• - 60g sake
• - 20g mirin
• - 20g sugar
• - 200g water
• - 2g Sichuan ground pepper
• - 60g tobanjan bean paste
• - 30g sesame oil
• - 200g soft tofu
• - 50g grated cheddar cheese
• - 50g grated pepper jack cheese
• - 20g chopped spring onions
• - 400g US seasoned crisp fries
• - 10 ml slurry

Procedure: 

1. Heat the oil and saute garlic, ginger, onions, and ground pork.
2. Brown the ground pork and add sake, mirin, shoyu, sugar, Sichuan pepper, tobanjan paste, sesame oil, and water. Simmer for 2 minutes and thicken with slurry.
3. When the sauce becomes thick, add the soft tofu.
4. Fry the US seasoned crisp fries. Pour the mapo tofu on top or on the side of the fries and add the grated cheeses as topping. Garnish with chopped spring onions.

And since we're on the topic of potatoes, here are some storage tips from Potatoes USA to make sure that you keep them fresh longer:

• - Let the potatoes breathe by storing them in net bags or other containers with holes.
• - It's okay to keep the potatoes in the fridge, but the best spot is a cool and dry place, like a cupboard. 
• - As much as possible, don't expose potatoes to light as this will result in greening, making them taste bitter. If you can't put the potatoes away from a light source, cover them with a dark cloth. 
• - Don't store potatoes next to onions as this will drastically shorten their shelf life. Same goes for fruits and other vegetables.