daigaku imo

Last month, I told you I had bought a junk yakiimo (roasted sweet potato).

Well, I realized that it might be the market that I had bought it from not the sweet potato, I think they are not cooking the sweet potato long enough....because the one I had bought yesterday from that market was again...junk.

So, to try to save it, I wrapped it in foil and stuck it in the fish grill (broiler) for about 40 minutes.

Today, I used half of the re-roasted sweet potato to make daigaku imo.

About this time of year you can find daigaku imo in the premade food area of the markets and see them at festivals.

Daigaku imo literally means "college/university potato".

One story of how this got its name is a college student who couldn't pay his tuition made this to raise money.

Another story is that a sweet shop near a university, made this and it was a hit with the students.

Sweet potato is deep fried then coated with a "caramel" coating.

When I tried daigaku imo in the past, the sweet potato itself was super dry and the caramel was so sticky that everything stuck to my teeth...meh

To make this, instead of deep frying the sweet potato, I "fried" them on a special foil that gives foods a nice sear.

This foil is coated with silicon, so you can turn any pan into a non-stick and cook foods without adding oil.

I noticed this foil leaves a residue on non-stick pans, so I do not use this foil with non-stick pans....

After "pan frying" the roasted sweet potato, I coated the sweet potato with the "caramel".

Adapted from the internet:

350 grams roasted sweet potato, cut into bite sized pieces

1 tablespoon oil * only if you do not have access to this special foil

Caramel sauce:

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)

1 tablespoon shoyu (soy sauce)

1 teaspoon vinegar (to prevent the sauce from crystalizing)

pinch of salt

black sesame seeds

Prepare the sauce ingredients except the sesame seeds and mix well.

“Fry” the sweet potato in a pan on medium, then add the sauce ingredients to the pan and coat the sweet potato well.

Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook in the caramel until everything is nicely coated and most of the liquid is evaporated, about 2 minutes.

Sprinkle with black sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

NOTES: Using roasted sweet potato was good because the sweet potato was moist, not dry.

The caramel was a little sticky but didn’t stick to my teeth.

Once the sauce goes into the pan, everything goes quickly, so don't walk away!

Don't cook this too long or your caramel will burn, 

It was my first time making this and I'm glad I tried, and would do this again.

It was easy, tasty and a nice way to save a junk yakiimo.

Have a safe weekend.