Every Sunday from the late 1990s until the early 2000s, my mother and I would weave through the crowded streets of New York City’s Chinatown to pick up our weekly groceries. We’d wander among the stalls brimming with fruits and vegetables, where the aroma of fresh lychees blended with the occasional scent of pungent durian.
During these weekly outings, my mother shared her wisdom on selecting the finest produce. She taught me that heavy oranges were brimming with juice, and plump grapes were ripe for the picking. We avoided anything with bruises. When it came to our beloved Japanese sweet potatoes, known as satsumaimo, she had a special tip.
“Always opt for the slender and long ones,” she advised in Cantonese.
“Not the heaviest or largest?” I questioned.
Why Opt for Long, Slender Sweet Potatoes
Shaking her head, my mother explained that when baked, longer and slender sweet potatoes consistently yielded a better flavor than their larger counterparts. These slim varieties cooked more uniformly in the oven, allowing their skins to caramelize thoroughly, which brought out the vegetable’s inherent sweetness.
Conversely, larger and rounder sweet potatoes took longer to cook thoroughly, often resulting in a hard, uncooked center. These bulkier sweet potatoes also tended to contain more water, which could dilute their sweetness.
To prove her point, my mother once roasted several long, slender sweet potatoes alongside a bulky, round one. The outcome, after an hour in the oven and a detailed taste test, was unmistakable. The slender sweet potatoes were caramelized perfectly, tender throughout, and delightfully sweet. Meanwhile, the large, round one was slightly undercooked in the middle and notably less sweet—it might have been a placebo effect, or perhaps my youthful taste buds were particularly discerning.
For years, I’ve applied my mother’s tip to various types of sweet potatoes, enhancing every dish with a sweeter, more satisfying flavor. However, if I’m being honest, Japanese sweet potatoes remain my favorite. They emerge from the oven nutty and buttery, reminiscent of large, sweet chestnuts.
Maybe there’s a bit of bias—each baking session transports me back to my childhood, to those quiet moments spent with my mother. She wasn’t one for soft, flowery words. Cantonese is a straightforward and no-frills language, and my mother embodied this style. Yet, through our culinary adventures and those spontaneous experiments in the kitchen, she added sweetness to my young life with the most delicious sweet potatoes. For this, I am eternally thankful.
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Riley Morgan simplifies health and wellness topics, providing readers with practical advice and insights. Dedicated to empowering others, Riley covers everything from mental health to medical breakthroughs.
