Simply Roasted Sweet Potatoes
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced as a parent is getting little kids to eat vegetables. Sweet potatoes are an easy exception. When Japanese sweet potatoes are roasted until deeply caramelized, jammy, and almost mochi-like inside, my kids love them.
The smell always reminds me of winters in Beijing when I was little. Street vendors would roast sweet potatoes in large metal drums, and they cost about one yuan each. My dad would buy one for us to share, and I always wanted the part closest to the skin. It was the sweetest part, sticky and a little chewy from the long roasting.
I still prefer smaller sweet potatoes for the same reason: you get more of that caramelized outer layer in every bite.
My own picky eaters are very particular about doneness. They only really love sweet potatoes when they’ve been roasted long enough that the flesh has shrunk slightly away from the skin and the layer just underneath has turned dark, sticky, and caramelized. At that point, the flesh is soft, jammy, and intensely sweet. That is the texture I’m aiming for with this recipe.
These were quickly devoured soon after the photoshoot.
Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Japanese sweet potatoes, or regular sweet potatoes, cleaned and dried (See notes)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Line a quarter sheet tray, half sheet tray, or whatever size pan will hold all of the sweet potatoes in a single layer, with foil. The potatoes may release sugary juices as they roast, and those juices can caramelize onto the pan.
Arrange the sweet potatoes in a single layer. Roast for about 1 hour 30 minutes, or until they are very soft and the flesh has begun to shrink away from the peel. (See notes)
Let cool on the tray until cool enough to handle. Peel and serve warm, or refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Cleaned sweet potatoes on the prepared tray.
Roasted sweet potatoes on the tray.
Notice how they have shrunk slightly as they baked and the flesh has pulled away from the skin, leaving some hollow-looking areas.
Peeled roasted sweet potatoes.
They are fairly easy to peel once properly roasted.
Notes:
Doneness: Choose sweet potatoes that are similar in size so they cook at about the same rate. If the sizes vary, check them individually and remove each one when it is completely soft and the flesh has started to pull away from the skin. To check for doneness, break one open: the inside should be completely soft and jammy, with the layer just underneath the skin starting to caramelize. If it still looks firm or starchy, return the potatoes to the oven and roast for another 15 minutes before checking again.
Seasoning: You can add butter or salt if you like, but we prefer them just as they are, like the roasted sweet potatoes sold on the streets of Beijing.
