They're not quite the same here as at home. The flesh is more white, but the skin is still purplish. And they're not as sweet. But they are good and they are especially plentiful in this are. I can't remember what they're called in Japanese, though I've heard it at least a dozen times.
Last weekend, I heard a parade of people walking past my house. Tons of families with their 5-7 year old children in tow were walking toward the fields just down the street from me. Zuma was barking at them, so I went outside to shut him up and ended up waving at the kids that knew me (there are too many of them for me to know all of them yet). A few hours later, I saw them returning with blue drawstring bags full of sweet potatoes. I waved to a few of them again, then went inside. A few minutes later, Zuma started barking. A 6 year old boy was timidly trying to get past Zuma's defenses to deliver me a bag of potatoes. Too cute! I thanked him and his mom and they smiled and went on their way.
I still have about 10 servings of sweet potatoes left. I've boiled them, put them in salads and curries, mashed them and fried them. They're good, but they're a lot for one person. Fortunately, I rather love them as fried wedges with ketchup. Good snack food.
The Japanese sweet potatoes are my favorite! Be on the lookout for the "yaki imo" man. That is a street vendor who sells sweet potatoes that have been roasted over coals in his cart. He wraps the bottom in newspaper. They are wonderful on a cold day outside. The vendor also has a standard song that starts out " Yaki imoo oishioo" I loved these so much that I named my orange tabby Yaki Imo.
ReplyDelete- A fellow gaijin