Daigaku Imo - Japanese University Sweet Potatoes

Tonight I tried some "daigaku imo" for the first time. They were DELICIOUS!!!  My student's mom not only made them fresh today but her family also grew the special potatoes for them. Apparently the potatoes they used are not so common and I was told that I can't buy them at most supermarkets.  Remi  (my student) was shocked that I had never tried them as I have lived  here for more than 13 years and they are a very common snack but honestly, they just never appealed to me. I'm not big on my mixing sweet tastes with ...not so sweet ones. I hate glazed carrots and that salad with mandarin orange slices and I just lumped this potato snack in with them.  When she brought them to school today I took one because she had come back to school 2 hours after her class finished- in the rain- just to bring them to me...how could I not try them?! Well...thank God I did...they were amazing!!!!  They were sweet and a bit salty and the sugar was caramelized and crunchy and I really had to stop myself from eating them all!

Here is the picture of what she brought me....the picture isn't very good because it is from my cell phone and it was at night. The 2nd picture will give you a better idea of what they look like.

These are called university (daigaku) sweet potatoes (imo) because they were originally a cheap snack sold to university students  during the Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926-1989) period.  For more information and a great recipe (all of Maki's recipes are amazing) click here .

Remi said she might bring more next week...I'm keeping my fingers crossed!