Step-by-step recipe for making Japanese Candied Sweet Potato Fries Imo Kenpi (芋けんぴ)! Imo Kenpi is a popular Japanese-old style sweet potato snack. Deep-fried sweet potato sticks are candied with sugar. While they look like French Fries, Imo Kenpi are crispier and sweet in taste.
You can buy them anywhere in Japan as almost all supermarkets and convenience stores sell Imo Kenpi of their own brands. However, they are super easy to make at home and worth the effort. You just need sweet potatoes, oil, and sugar. You can add some sesame for more taste and flavor or experiment with the flavors you like.
Candied Sweet Potato Fries (Imo Kenpi)
-A Perfect Snack
These sweet potato fries have always been one of my favorite snacks, they are quite addictive, and you can’t just resist eating an entire bag. They go well with a cup of green tea as a tea-time snack.
While fries aren’t considered a healthy food, sweet potatoes do have a lot of nutritional benefits. If you make these sweet potato fries at home, you can make them using a healthy oil and less amount of sugar.
More Sweet Potato recipes
Discover how to make Japanese sweet potato cake (Suito Poteto, スイートポテト)-Easy to make very simple dessert yet super delicious.
EASY! Sweet Potato Cake (Gâteau Patate Douce)-This delicious recipe is inspired by a traditional sweet potato cake from Reunion Island known as Gâteau Patate Douce in French.
Candied Sweet Potato Fries (Imo Kenpi)
useful info + Tips
- I used a big size sweet potato. However, you can make them also with smaller size sweet potatoes, just you need to cut them into sticks.
- Rinse sweet potatoes under running water and scrub off any loose dirt.
- Keep the skins on, that’s where much of the nutrition is concentrated and you can also save time.
- Cut sweet potatoes into sticks.
- Make sure to soak cut potatoes in water (preferably cold water) to release excess starch to make them crispier.
- Make sure to thoroughly pat the fries dry after soaking
- To dry them faster, arrange the cut potatoes on a tray in a single layer.
- Add cut potatoes to cold water. Oil doesn’t need to be hot before you begin.
- For crispy sweet potato fries, don’t overcrowd them, make them in batches if necessary or your fries will be soft and soggy.
- Use tongs to turn fries over halfway through cooking.
Candied Sweet Potato Fries (Imo Kenpi)
step-by-step recipe
Ingredients
300g sweet potatoes
Oil for frying
150g sugar
50 ml water
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Directions
Rinse sweet potatoes under running water and scrub off any loose dirt.
Cut into sticks, like French Fries.
Soak in water for 5 to 10 minutes.
Wash a few times and then drain.
Dry well with paper towels.
Spread them on paper towels.
Let them dry naturally for one to two hours.
Put oil in a pan and add sweet potatoes to the cold oil.
Turn on the heat to medium and fry until crispy.
Take the fries out
and drain them on paper towels.
Make the syrup by mixing the sugar and water in a saucepan.
Cook over medium-high heat, until it turns to a syrup consistency.
Turn the heat off and add the fries and sesame into the syrup.
Mix well until the sugar mixture crystallizes around the potatoes.
Candied Sweet Potato Fries (Imo Kenpi)
PRINTABLE recipe
Japanese Candied Sweet Potato Fries (Imo Kenpi)
Ingredients
- 300 g sweet potatoes
- Oil for frying
- 150 g sugar
- 50 ml water
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Rinse sweet potatoes under running water and scrub off any loose dirt.
- Cut into sticks, like French Fries.
- Soak in water for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Wash few times and the drain.
- Dry well with paper towel.
- Spread them on a paper towel.
- Let them dry naturally for one to two hours.
- Put oil in a pan and add sweet potatoes into the cold oil.
- Turn on the heat to medium and fry until crispy.
- Take the sweet potato fries out and drain on paper towel.
- Make the syrup by mixing the sugar and water in a saucepan.
- Cook over medium-high heat, until it turns to a syrup consistency.
- Turn heat off and add the fries and sesame into the syrup.
- Mix well until the sugar mixture crystallizes around the potatoes.
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