Cold water Recipes

Daigaku Imo (Japanese Candied Sweet Potatoes)

Daigaku imo (大学芋, literally "university potato") is a Japanese snack and bento side of bite-size sweet potato pieces fried until crisp at the edges, then coated in a thin, glossy syrup of sugar, mirin and soy sauce and finished with black sesame. Where the name comes from is not settled: there are several stories, most of them about students, and none is proven. The potatoes are fried in a shallow layer of oil rather than deep-fried, slowly at first so the middle turns soft and sweet, then hotter for a crisp skin. The syrup takes about three minutes and sets into a thin shell as it cools. Active time is about 35 minutes including a 10-minute soak, and the pieces rest another 5 minutes on parchment. Serves four as a snack or a bento side.