Daigaku Imo (Candied Sweet Potatoes)

Name: Daigaku Imo (Candied Sweet Potatoes)
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 2–3
Ingredients: Sweet potato (Japanese) 1 (about 300 g); Toasted black sesame seeds 1 tsp; Vegetable oil About 200 ml; Sugar 3 tbsp; Soy sauce 1 tsp; Water About 500 ml + 2 tbsp

🌱 VeganNo meat, fish, eggs, dairy, honey or bonito dashi

Serves 2–3 · About 30 min
A snack of sweet potatoes shallow-fried in oil, coated in sugar and soy sauce syrup and sprinkled with black sesame.

① Cut the sweet potato→② Shallow-fry→③ Make the syrup→④ Coat and cool

What to buy

Vegetables

Sweet potato (Japanese)1 (about 300 g)

Seasonings & dry goods

Toasted black sesame seeds1 tsp

Check what you already have

Vegetable oilAbout 1 cm deep in the frying panAbout 200 mlSugar3 tbspSoy sauce1 tspWaterFor soaking the sweet potato, and for the syrupAbout 500 ml + 2 tbsp

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How to make it

Cut the sweet potato

About 10 min (5 min of this is just soaking in water)

Wash the sweet potato well. Don't peel it. Cut off both ends
On the cutting board, cut the sweet potato diagonally, turning it a little each time (rolling cut). Each piece about 2–3 cm
Fill a bowl with water (about 500 ml) and soak for 5 minutes
Drain in a strainer and pat dry well with paper towels

How to tell it's doneAll the pieces are about the same size, and the surface is not wet.

Be carefulSweet potatoes are hard. Hold the sweet potato from above with the hand not holding the knife, and keep your fingers out of the way of the blade.

Shallow-fry

Medium heatAbout 6–8 min

Put vegetable oil about 1 cm deep (about 200 ml) in a frying pan and heat over medium heat
Put the tip of dry cooking chopsticks in the oil. When small bubbles keep fizzing from the tips, it's the right temperature (about 170°C)
Gently add the sweet potatoes from the near side of the pan. Shallow-fry for about 6–8 minutes, rolling them with cooking chopsticks now and then
Take out onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain the oil

How to tell it's doneThe outside is light golden brown, and a bamboo skewer (or chopstick) goes in easily into the biggest piece.

Be carefulOil may splatter. Keep your face away, and don't leave while the oil is on the heat. If you leave, always turn off the heat. If big bubbles pop hard or there is smoke, it's too hot, so turn off the heat and wait a little. Clean up the used oil after it cools.

Make the syrup

Medium heatAbout 2 min

In another frying pan or small pot, put 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp water and 1 tsp soy sauce (don't move or pour the hot oil in the pan you used for frying)
Set over medium heat and cook without stirring, gently shaking the pan

How to tell it's doneThe small bubbles at first change to big, slow bubbles, and it's a little thick when you scoop it with a spatula.

Be carefulThe syrup is very hot. Don't touch it with your fingers or taste it. If it turns dark, it gets bitter, so go to the next step as soon as the bubbles get big.

Coat and cool

Heat offAbout 2 min + cool 10 min

Turn off the heat, add the sweet potatoes and coat them all with the syrup using a spatula
Sprinkle with 1 tsp toasted black sesame seeds and mix quickly
Spread them out on a plate with space between them so they don't stick together, and cool for about 10 minutes

ReadyThe syrup on the outside has hardened and is shiny.

📚 Learn more about this dish

🥬 Ingredient guide

Shoyu (soy sauce)

🔪 Cutting & cooking tips

Heat levels (high, medium, low)Ran-giri (roll cut)

If it didn't work out

Hard insideThe oil was too hot in step 2, so only the outside browned first. Next time keep the oil at the small-bubble temperature and fry until a bamboo skewer goes in.

Soggy and oilyYou added them while the oil was not hot enough. Next time check that small bubbles keep coming from the chopsticks before adding.

The syrup is bitterIt cooked down too much in step 3 and burned. Next time turn off the heat as soon as the bubbles get big.

The syrup runs off instead of coatingIt wasn't cooked down enough in step 3. Cook a little longer until it thickens.

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Made by YUU, a teen who loves cooking → About me