Candied Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 11 oz. (300g) Japanese sweet potato
• 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 5 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp. rice vinegar or lemon juice
• 1 tsp. roasted black sesame seeds

Instructions:

1. We don’t peel the skin of sweet potato so wash carefully.

2. Cut diagonally while rotating the sweet potato a quarter between cuts. This Japanese cutting technique is called “Rangiri”.

3. Soak in water for 15 minutes to remove starch. Change the water a few times.

4. Wrap the frying pan’s lid with kitchen cloth. This is to prevent condensation on the lid dripping into sweet potatoes while cooking.

5. Do not heat the frying pan yet. Add sugar, oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar in the pan and combine all together.

6. Dry the sweet potatoes completely with paper towel and place in the pan.

7. Cover with the lid and turn on the heat to medium.

8. When you hear bubbling sound from the pan, turn the heat to low to medium-low, and set timer for 2 minutes. Open the lid and flip the sweet potatoes every 2-3 minute so that all sides will have nice golden brown color and get flavored.

9. Depends on the size of sweet potatoes, the cooking time varies, cook for 8-10 minutes or until an inserted skewer goes through smoothly (I personally prefer it a bit tougher than completely soft texture). Now transfer to the serving plate/bowl and sprinkle black sesame seeds.

Notes

* Vinegar or lemon juice helps the sugar from hardening when it cools down.