Cocoyam is a root vegetable with edible tubers and leaves. In this chips recipe, I will share with you how to use cocoyam tubers to make a tasty crunchy snack called cocoyam chips.
There are many foods in African cuisine in general and the Nigerian cuisine in particular, there are also a lot of easy snacks that can be prepared from the comfort of your home with simple and healthy ingredients.
There are different types of cocoyam namely; white cocoyam and red cocoyam. As a matter of fact, they are named with their colour, also in other cultures cocoyam is called taro roots.
White cocoyam and red cocoyam are both good for making chips and this recipe, I would share with you two methods on how make chips with white or red cocoyam.
Apart from using cocoyam to make chips, it can be used to make cocoyam pottage and also as a soup thickener. Although this applies majorly to white cocoyam.
In the same vein, other edible tubers are such as potato, yams can also be used to make delicious meals whose recipes can be found in the Yam & Root Recipes section in the food blog.
This snack is perfect for munching at any time of the day and it is also a popular street food in Nigeria just like fried yam, cocoyam chips is simple and can be prepared with easy to get ingredients from the market and your kitchen as well.
All you need to make this snack are in the list below.
Ingredients needed for cocoyam chips
- Cocoyam
- Salt
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Water for cleaning
Kitchen utensils needed
- Frying pan
- Knife
Now I will proceed with the simple step by step instructions on how to use the ingredients listed above to make this delicious crispy snack from the comfort of your home.
How to make cocoyam chips with red cocoyam
- Get a bowl of clean water
- Peel the skin of the red cocoyam with a small kitchen knife or a peeler
- Put the peeled cocoyam in water immediately after peeling to avoid discolouration
- Repeat this process until all the cocoyams have been peeled
- Place the peeled cocoyam onto a tray and thinly slice them
- Sprinkle some salt on the cocoyam slices
- Pour vegetable oil into your frying pan and allow to heat up
- Put some slices of onions in the oil and fry for 2 minutes – this is done to make the cooking oil nicely fragrant.
- Removed the fried onions with a spoon
- Put the sliced cocoyam in the hot oil
- Fry till it shrinks but not burned.
- Turn it and fry for 2-3 minutes
- Then line your basket with kitchen napkins for absorbing excess oil
- Scoop the fried cocoyam out of the hot oil into the lined basket
- Reapeat the process till all the cocoyams have been fried
- Allow to cool down completely
Crunchy cocoyam snack is ready to be enjoyed as an appetizer, a snack or a side dish.
You can watch this free video tutorial to use as a guide to make your own red cocoyam chips at home.
Let’s proceed to how to make white cocoyam chips. The ingredients needed are the same as the ones listed above. The only difference is that we are going to use white cocoyam not the red one.
How to make chips with white cocoyam
- Wash cocoyam with water to remove the sand on it.
- Make sure you wash it thoroughly multiple times with water and sponge and no soap to make sure it looks very clean.
- Get a bowl of clean water
- Peel the brown skin of the cocoyam with a knife of potato peeler to reveal the white part
- Put it in the bowl of water to avoid discolouration
- Repeat this process until all the cocoyams have been peeled
- Dispose the water used for cleaning
- Get a sharp kitchen knife
- Place the cocoyams on a chopping board and cut them thinly
- Fill a bowl of water
- Pour 1-2 tbsp salt into the water
- Mix well till the salt dissolves
- Put all the cocoyam slices in the salt water
- Leave it for 5-10 minutes
- After 10 minutes, drain the salt water by pouring everything into a colander
- Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan
- Place over a stove and allow to get hot
- Frying onions in the oil to make it fragrant – this step is optional
- Remove the fried onions and put the cocoyam into hot oil
- Fry for for 5-10 minutes till it becomes dry
- Turn and fry the other side for 2-3 minutes
- Scoop out cocoyam fries into the colander
- Line your colander with kitchen towel paper to absolve excess cooking oil
Allow to cool down completely for the best crunchy effect.
Now serve with ketchup, vegetable sauce, hummus, pepper sauce, avocado dip or any dip of your choice.
If your cocoyam chips is not crispy, it may be because it was cut too thick, not properly fried or the oil temperature was too low while frying.
Provided below is an easy tutorial on how to make the perfect cocoyam chips with white cocoyam.
Summarily, while white cocoyam chips are crispy with a light texture airiness, red cocoyam chips have a more solid taste and are more crunchy.
Also, for a healthier alternative you can bake or air-fry your cocoyam slices.
It is easier to produce this snack in bulk and store in your kitchen for whenever you are craving something to snack on in between meals or to entertain your guests.
How to store cocoyam chips at home
After producing in bulk you can store the by following these steps.
- Get airtight containers with lids or airtight sealable food pouches
- Allow the chips to cool down completely after frying
- Air dry the contains to make sure there is no moisture in them
- Fill the containers or pouches and seal well
- Store in a cool and dry place.
Stored chips can last up to 2 weeks at home
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