Sweet potato snacks

Sweet potatoes are very common vegetables in Japan. Five years ago, a series of post stamps “Vegetables and Fruits” was issued, including a sweet potato.

In winter, some supermarkets sell baked sweet potatoes. They are one of the most popular snacks especially when it is cold. When I was in elementary school, a friend of mine and I went to a shop to buy some stone-grilled sweet potatoes after we played for a while in her house. It was windy and very cold, a typical winter day in Hamamatsu. Then I ate a stone-grilled sweet potato for the first time in my life as I had only eaten steamed ones at home. The sweet potato tasted very good, and the friend’s mother gave me a leftover one when I left their home. I was so happy. I went back to my grandparents’ house, where I used to stay until my father came to pick me up every evening, with the hot sweet potato put against my cheek all the way. It was one of the sweetest memories in my childhood. Unfortunately, stone-grilled sweet potatoes may not be so common these days, however, I still love baked sweet potatoes.

In supermarkets and some convenience stores, there are also dried sweet potatoes. Their colors and shapes may vary depending on manufacturers. Those sold in small grocery stores are often less expensive and simply packaged.

The white spots are the sugar content in the sweet potatoes that has appeared on the surface. Like fruits, dried sweet potatoes become sweeter when dried. They are soft and may stick to your teeth. It happens sometimes that my teeth ache when I eat them, but it doesn’t last long.

Another common snack is called imokenpi. They are crisp deep-fried strips. They were originally made in Kochi Prefecture but are sold in all over Japan now. I bought this bag at the convenience store FamilyMart. Though they were coated with sugar, they were not too sweet. I had thought potatoes and sweet potatoes were completely different, but imokenpi’s taste somewhat reminded me of potato chips. I couldn’t stop and ate them up today.