Mia Makes: Candied Sweet Potatoes

My first taste of candied sweet potatoes was at a local Korean restaurant (was it Bibigo?) many years back. Being a sweet potato lover with a sweet tooth, seeing candied sweet potato on the menu simply means I need to order it. And I was so glad I did! 

The sweet potato chunks were fried till crispy at the edges, but still moist and fluffy on the insides. And then every piece of the sweet potatoes were just fully coated in a thin layer of sugar syrup that's melted, sticky and a little gooey. OMG, it was like the best snack, ever. 

Ultimately there's many variations to the candied sweet potatoes. In Korea, they're called Goguma Mattang. In Japan, they're Daigaku Imo. And then there's also 拔丝地瓜, whereby instead of leaving the sugar syrup coating to cool down and harden as it is, you gotta stir up the sweet potatoes while the sugar syrup coating is cooling down to create the sugar strands/webs. 

But it doesn't matter where the deep fried sweet potatoes meet the sugar syrup, it'll always end up in a happy ending. HAHAHA!

So let's get over with the ingredients to get started.

For 1 medium sweet potato (180 - 200g), you'll need:

2 tbsp sugar (white or brown sugar are both okay)

1/2 tbsp cooking oil

a dash of soy sauce (may omit)

toasted sesame seeds (as topping, may omit)

More cooking oil for frying

recipe adapted from Ochikeron

First up, wash and clean your sweet potato. I typically scrub them down with a soft brush to get into all the nooks and cranny, as I prefer to eat them with skin on. You may peel the skin if you prefer to eat your sweet potatoes without the skin. After washing the sweet potato, cut them up into bite size chunks and immerse them in a bowl of water for about 10 to 15 minutes to remove excess starch.

After 15 minutes, drain the sweet potato chunks and pat them dry with kitchen towel, to prevent oil from splattering during frying. 

Then, place your sweet potato chunks in your frying pan and add sufficient cooking oil to cover the entire base of the pan, such that the base of every piece of the sweet potato chunks is sitting on the oil. We're not deep frying the sweet potato chunks, so you need not use a whole load of cooking oil. Then, turn on the hob to medium heat and let the sweet potato steam-fry with the lid on for about 3 to 5 minutes, until the surface is browned. Then, flip the sweet potato chunks over and steam-fry them again with the lid on for another 3 minutes. Continue flipping and steam-frying until the sweet potatoes are fully cooked. You can check the doneness by either inserting a bamboo skewer or simply poking them lightly with a fork. 

Then, remove the sweet potato chunks from the pan and drain off all the oil. Place the pan back onto medium/low heat and add in the 2 tbsp of sugar. Drizzle 1/2 tbsp of cooking oil over the sugar and leave it until the sugar crystals has just started to melt. Then, turn down the hob to the lowest heat and let it continue to cook. Do not stir the sugar-oil mixture at this point, just swirl them around lightly by tilting your pan around, until all the sugar crystals has fully melted. Then, add in the sweet potato chunks and soy sauce and stir-fry until the sweet potato chunks are evenly coated with the sugar syrup. Sprinkle in the toasted sesame seeds and give it a few toss to incorporate before turning off the hob and removing the sugar coated sweet potato chunks from the pan and onto a serving dish. 

Do take note to place them separately on the plate, or else they'll all stick together when the sugar syrup has cooled down and harden.

Tadaa~

As the sweet potatoes are steam-fried (and not deep fried), you'll get the crispy edges with a soft and fluffy interior, which is sooooooooooo good!

Needless to say, the plate was wiped out in mere minutes because it was so addictive. 

Till then,

Mia Foo