醋溜土豆丝-- Vinegar flavor spicy potato shreds

Quote from "闲话山西人"----- 广东人把Potato分到“薯”类，起名叫作“马铃薯”；南京人把Potato分到“芋”类，起名叫作“洋山芋”；北京人把Potato分到“豆”类，起名叫作“土豆”；而山西人又把Potato分到“蛋”类，给Potato起个爱称叫“山药蛋”。

土豆切丝，泡盐水，去淀粉，捞起，晾干。

葱切丝，头做锅底。怕辣的人备甜红椒丝，两湖，四川，贵州一带，就备点干红辣椒丝和花椒，
锅里油温中等，下花椒炸出香味，然后捞起撇掉，再爆香干红椒丝和葱头，推到锅边，下土豆丝，开大火，加白醋翻炒，约摸几分钟，下甜红椒，不怕辣的就免了，撒盐，尝味，断生，又脆又爽滑的刚好，出锅前洒上葱丝，拌匀，就成了。

不要放味精，我最讨厌的调味品。

This recipe is very Chinese; However, the potato is an imported vegetable to Chinese people.

Dating back to the middle of Qin Dynasty, potato was fitted into Chinese cuisine but no nice name had been given yet. “Tu dou” which is a common name usually in the northern China, could be translated into "Peas in the soil", if word by word. Other names includes "Ma ling Shu"(By its category), "Yang Shan Yu"(By both category and foreign origin) and "Shan Yao dan "(By its shape).

Unlike the Western Cuisine. Chinese chefs pay much attention to the skill of using knives. In this potato recipe, potatoes should first be peeled, then sliced and shredded. Never use a grater or food processor as you deal with it! Only by using your hand could the potato be shredded as narrowly as possible. In Chinese, "shred" share the same character as in "pieces of hair". Just imagine that, you will be amazed.

After you shred the potato, put them in a bowl and immense with running water for at least 10 minutes. Add in some salt in the water first if possible. Soaking is a very crucial step to make the potato tastes crispy and silky. Since starch was washed away, you could figure out the calorie of this dish could be largely reduced. Isn't that wonderful？

During the soaking time, you could cut the green onion and red pepper into shreds also. Replace sweet red pepper with dried red chili if you like the spicy taste. Remember the green onion's white head should be separated from the green ends. the head is wonderful to give potato shred flavors.

After the potato shreds having been dried, you could move on to the pan for cooking. In the U.S., it is almost impossible for Chinese to use a traditional Chinese Wok for all the stoves are flat. Well, just go ahead to use your pan, but not too low-brimmed though.

Heat oil in the pan, fry a small cup of Zanthoxylum (A very special Sichuan Cuisine condiment. Skip this if you can't bear its spicy flavor.) at medium temperature. For a few seconds, it's special spicy flavor will come out. Then, take them out and fry the red chili and green onion head together for 15 seconds also. All these makes a nice base flavor for the potato.

Now turn the heat to high, and pour all the potato shreds in and stir . Then, 10 drops also Vinegar (add more if you like the sour flavor) should be added in immediately to flavor the potato. For another 2-3 minutes, you could put in salt, green onion ends or sweet red pepper to make the dish colorful and tasty.

Last step, find a nice plate to finish this traditional and popular Chinese potato recipe.