Sweet Potatoes and Earth Element: Favor them Moist or Dry?

Some sweet potatoes cook up moist and others, relatively speaking, cook up dry. Here’s how to use Five Elements to discern which variety best suits your digestion.

The so-called dry varieties (jewel, Japanese, and Hannah) are starchier and so more firm and mealy when cooked. The more “moist” garnets and Beauregards cook up softer and heavier.

Which variety to favor? Well, that depends upon the dish it’s going into. Moist is best for pie, dry is best for home fries. You can also select a variety to support your overall health by using Five Element paradigm. Admittedly, the energetic differences between sweet potato varieties are subtle. But there are differences! Taking them into consideration adds another dimension to your healing cuisine.

For example, if  your digestion is somewhat challenged or delicate then drier varieties will sit easier on the tummy. You might also favor drier sweet potatoes if you tend to have overweight issues, edema, excessive mucus, and/or bloating.

To help balance the heavy, wet properties of a moist sweet potato like a garnet, add warming and drying spices like ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Or to make that garnet even more dense and moist, add a sweetener.