Recipes For Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Roasted Japanese sweet potatoes are an easy and flavorful side dish to any weeknight meal. Japanese sweet potatoes are diced and tossed in a flavorful marinade of miso, honey, and soy sauce. A great kid friendly side dish!

Slightly smaller and more slender than other varieties of sweet potato, once you start recognizing them, they will definitely stand out to you! They have a more red and purple-tinted skin and have a creamy off-white inside that turns slightly yellow after cooking. They cook up tender, fluffier, starchier, and sweeter!

When looking for these, you can find them in your local grocers and farmers markets. I often have the best luck at Whole Foods or Trader Joes, and often get them in my co-op basket, too.

Baked Japanese Sweet Potato

Look for ones that have a smooth skin and feel heavy in your hand. You don’t want one that is really long and skinny with a lot of roots sticking out – they will be too fibrous and not good.

These are the best when you bring them home from the store and let them hang out in a cool, dark place for 2-4 weeks before cooking them! They get sweeter this way.

These roasted potato wedges are a great side dish to any meal! Try serving them beside Instant Pot Asian Sticky Ribs, Thai Turkey Zucchini Meatballs, or Slow Cooker Pork Ribs.

Japanese Sweet Potato Okonomiyaki

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Serving: 1 g | Calories: 336 kcal | Carbohydrates: 56 g | Protein: 7 g | Fat: 10 g | Saturated Fat: 2 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9 g | Sodium: 676 mg | Fiber: 8 g | Sugar: 21 g

Jenni, a resident of Des Moines, Iowa, shares her home with her amazing husband, three girls, two Golden Retrievers, two black cats, and two horses. She is the visionary behind The Gingered Whisk, the author of Adventures in Meal Planning, and kids cooking instructor. She is super passionate about helping every member of a family learn to love great food. Jenni's profound dedication lies in the art of crafting delectable weeknight meals brimming with flavor, conquering the challenges of picky eating, and instilling the invaluable skill of cooking in children. Learn more about her at her about me page.With a crisp sesame candy coating and a tender, fluffy interior, this Daigaku Imo (大学芋) is an easy Japanese sweet potato recipe that makes for a delicious afternoon snack or sweet side dish for a Japanese meal.

Roasted Japanese Sweet Potato Fries Recipe

Daigaku Imo is a popular snack food in Japan that's often found in street stalls, along with other traditional snacks like Taiyaki and Mitarashi Dango. It's traditionally made by double frying Japanese sweet potatoes before glazing them in a sticky syrup.

In my version, I like to use a three-step process of steaming, frying, and glazing the sweet potatoes, which creates a crisp lasting exterior while the interior remains tender and moist.

The first thing you need to do is prepare the Japanese sweet potatoes. I start by giving them a good wash, being careful not to scrub the skin off. Then I trim both ends off of each potato and cut them up using rangiri.

Japanese Sweet Potato With Miso Butter

To do this, cut off a chunk of sweet potato at a 45-degree angle, and then turn the potato 90 degrees before cutting off another chunk at the same angle. This should allow you to cut the tapered tuber into pieces that are roughly the same size and thickness.

As you cut the sweet potato, be sure to put the pieces into a bowl of cold water to keep them from oxidizing.

Wash any excess starch off the potatoes, drain them, and then place them in a frying pan with ¼ cup of water. Cover the pan with a lid, and then bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Steam the potatoes for another 5-6 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated.

Recipe: Roasted Japanese Sweet Potatoes With Miso Dressed Spinach & Candied Cashews

Once the sweet potatoes are no longer wet, add them to the preheated oil and deep fry them for about five minutes or until they're golden brown. Be sure to turn them over regularly, so they brown evenly.

About 2 minutes before the sweet potatoes are done, add the rice syrup and sugar to the frying pan you used for steaming the potatoes and heat the mixture until the sugar is melted.

Use tongs to drain and transfer the fried sweet potatoes directly into the syrup and then toss everything together to coat the Daigaku Imo evenly. The mixture should be very sticky to ensure the sugar forms a crisp shell, but if it becomes impossible to mix or it seems like it's starting to burn, add a spoonful of water to loosen things up.

Pan Roasted Korean Sweet Potato

Daigaku Imo literally means university potato in Japanese, and it's a sweet snack food made by frying and glazing Japanese sweet potatoes in thick sugar syrup.

Despite having a relatively short history, it's unclear exactly who created this treat. The consensus is that it was created near one of Tokyo's major universities in the late 1920s or early 1930s. It quickly became a popular snack food amongst hungry college students, most likely where it got its name. 

All sweet potatoes were first cultivated in South America, but they were brought to Japan by the Portuguese in the 1600s. Known as satsumaimo (サツマイモ) in Japan, they quickly became a staple crop, due to their ability to make up for any shortfalls in the rice harvest. Through selective breeding, Japanese sweet potatoes have become a unique set of cultivars characterized by red skin and pale yellow flesh that becomes vibrant yellow as they're cooked. They tend to be sweeter than Western varieties, but they also have a lower moisture content, making them dry if they're not prepared properly.

How I Use Japanese White Sweet Potatoes In Recipes

As long as the sweet potato you are using is relatively low in moisture, this should work. Higher moisture varieties such as the orange-fleshed variety often found in the US will likely cause the candy coating to dissolve.

This recipe is entirely plant-based as long as you use vegan sugar. Some versions use honey or are fried in lard, though, so if you are ordering it at a restaurant, be sure to ask.

After steaming them, you can coat them in a generous amount of oil and then bake them on a parchment-lined sheet pan in the oven. They will not brown quite as evenly as frying them, and they won't be quite as moist on the inside. They're going to absorb a similar amount of oil as deep-frying, and this method takes longer and yields inferior results, so I don't recommend it.

Daigaku Imo (japanese Candied Sweet Potatoes) Recipe

You can pan fry them after steaming them; however, the browning will be uneven. They also tend to fall apart as you glaze them because they don't get a uniform crust.

Calories 178 kcal Carbohydrates 44 g Protein 2 g Fat 1 g Saturated Fat 1 g Sodium 78 mg Potassium 384 mg Fiber 3 g Sugar 22 g Vitamin A 15960 IU Vitamin C 3 mg Calcium 58 mg Iron 1 mgIf you’ve ever had a warm baked sweet potato slathered in butter, you know that it’s one of life’s greatest pleasures. It’s such a simple meal but it’s beyond satisfying.

I wanted to evoke that same comforting feeling but introduce an elegant, modern spin. I often describe my recipes as vegan comfort food with an elevated or unique twist.

Mashed Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Like here, instead of plain old butter, I infuse the flavors of miso, sesame, and lime into the (vegan) butter. And instead of regular sweet potatoes, I use Japanese sweet potatoes because they are truly the best. I’m a big fan of miso butter, as evident in my Miso Butter Mushroom Risotto, Miso Butter Mashed Potatoes, and Creamy Umami Noodle Soup with Crispy Mushrooms! 

The first time I had a Japanese sweet potato, I felt like I had been missing out on something magical my whole life. If you haven’t tried one yet, I can’t recommend it enough.

In Japan, sweet potatoes are referred to as Satsuma Imo. They are typically available year-round in Japan, but are most closely associated with autumn in Japan.

The Perfect Roasted Japanese Sweet Potato :: Healthy Vegan With Colleen Holland

Japanese sweet potatoes, aka Murasaki sweet potatoes, have purple-pinkish skins and white flesh that turns golden when baked, as opposed to the orange-fleshed sweet potato.

Texture-wise, Japanese sweet potatoes are somehow drier and fluffier yet also creamier, thicker, and denser than standard sweet potatoes, which is why I adore them so much. Taste-wise, they’re incredibly sweet (even sweeter than the classic sweet potato) and have a slight chestnut flavor.

You can find Japanese sweet potatoes at well-stocked grocery stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, specialty produce stores, farmers markets, Japanese grocery stores, and certain online retailers like Fresh Direct.

Sesame Soy Glazed Roasted Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Two common methods for cooking Japanese Sweet Potatoes are baking and steaming. For baking, which is what I do in this