Potatoes appear at the table in so many different, delicious guises: mashed, baked, sautéed, boiled. And as a cook, you probably know that for each of these dishes, some kinds of potatoes work better than others: russets are great for mashing and baking; round whites for sautéing; little red potatoes for boiling whole. But why is this so?

为了回答这个问题，让我们仔细看看马铃薯 - 任何土豆烹饪时会发生什么。与大多数蔬菜不同，在烹饪过程中丢失水时，因为他们的细胞壁软化和释放水分，土豆实际上吸收了水。未加工的土豆含有许多微观淀粉颗粒，并且随着淀粉在烹饪的热量中软化，它们向周围的水分膨胀。吸收的水分量影响煮熟的马铃薯的质地和形状。因此，淀粉含量是确定马铃薯最佳使用的关键。

匹配的游戏：品种和用途

在超市，您将在各种形状，颜色和尺寸中找到土豆。除了这些明显的差异外，土豆也有所不同。在食谱中，高淀粉土豆有时被称为“Meally”的土豆，低淀粉土豆通常被称为“蜡质”。如果超市将土豆标记为高，中等或低淀粉品种，这将是一个很大的帮助。不幸的是，不是很多商店所做的那样，这是下降。

高淀粉土豆用于烘烤和捣碎

Potatoes such as russets, Idahoes, and Russet Burbanks are high in starch and lower in moisture. They have thick skins, so they bake to perfection and make the fluffiest mashed potatoes. As they cook, their cells tend to separate and absorb lots of moisture, which creates their characteristic mealy, fluffy texture. When you eat these potatoes, you can sense their abundance of starch, as they feel granular and dry on your tongue.

高淀粉土豆的吸湿质量也使它们在汤中的良好增稠剂。由于Honkks的Hightarch土豆在汤中烹饪，土豆崩溃了，将淀粉颗粒释放到肉汤中，在那里他们旋转液体并加厚汤。但是，相同的质量可以防止这些土豆在烹饪过程中握持在一起，因此它们对您希望土豆握住其形状的任何菜肴并不理想：扇形土豆，整个烤，或哈希褐色。

High starch: the secret to perfect french fries。高淀粉土豆是你最好的煎炸。图片一个新鲜切碎的油炸，因为它击中了热脂肪。外面的淀粉颗粒立即在热量中膨胀并开始从马铃薯内部拉动水分。作为外部烹饪和棕色，表面密封件，防止炸薯条吸收大量烹饪脂肪。你得到的是法国油炸物，用清脆和金色的外观和干燥，蓬松的室内装饰。

Medium-starch potatoes are mult-purpose

Yukon Golds，含有略微坚定的味道，黄色芬兰人，用金色皮肤和肉体，淀粉和奶油质地比高淀粉的土豆少。如果你喜欢（和很多人这样做），你可以用捣碎的中淀粉土豆，但期待结果是奶油而不是轻盈和蓬松。一些厨师也喜欢这些土豆的淀粉含量为泛油炸土豆和马铃薯沙拉。

问：我为什么不冷藏生土豆？
A：土豆应储存在黑暗，冷却（45°至50°F），干燥处。如果温度太冷，一些土豆淀粉将变成糖。这种味道不仅令人不愉快，但额外的糖也会导致烹饪过程中的过度繁琐。如果土豆在蓄冷储存中蜿蜒而来，可以通过在室温下将糖转换回淀粉几天。

低淀粉土豆适用于沙拉，焗烤和烤

红皮的土豆和圆白，被认为是“蜡质”。当你切成这些高湿，低淀粉土豆之一时，肉体看起来半透明和坚定。

The cells of low-starch potatoes adhere to one another and swell little during cooking, so these potatoes hold their shape and don’t fall apart easily when handled. And they contain more sugar, which turns deliciously brown during cooking. These qualities make them suited equally well for boiling, roasting, or sautéing. The flesh contains less starch and more sugar so it remains moist and toothsome even while the outside becomes
crisp and brown.

We love little waxy potatoes boiled and served whole with butter and parsley. Waxy potatoes are also ideal for scalloped potatoes because their slices retain a pretty shape and appealing texture during cooking, instead of disintegrating into the surrounding sauce. Because of their low starch content, these varieties only lightly absorb salad dressing, so use them if you like a potato salad that’s chunky, rather than creamy.