고구마 / Goguma (Korean sweet potatoes)

The thing I am craving the most after being in LA for the past month is a specific variety of sweet potato. The variety I crave is sold at various Asian grocers; in Korean we call them goguma, but they are often labeled Korean yam or sweet potato in English at Korean grocers, or Japanese sweet potato at some western grocers.

In my memories, they are always roasted in large batches. They are then eaten through the week, packed in school lunches, lying around the house for snacking, or taken on road trips in the car on family vacations. I ate them similarly in other Korean households, and came to know them being eaten hot along street stalls in Seoul.

Roasted, piled together on a plate, fingers peeling its dry purple exterior, uncovering sticky, glistening sweet potatoes, then eaten while piping hot or at room temperature based on preference.

While visiting LA, the only two households that had these roasted and available at home was at my mom’s and at my friend Sohee’s.

Sohee’s version stays in my mind because they are super caramelized, achieved by letting to rest until completely cool, and eaten at room temperature. I’ve made them once in LA following her instructions, adjusting the temperature and roasting time with the kitchen I was in, but I still need to work on them to get them to how good Sohee’s is.

I’m not sure if I can find the right variety I need here in Munich to continue improving them, but I’ll be on the search. Here are my notes, in case you’re lucky enough to find them near you.

고구마 / Goguma / Korean Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients list:
-Asian variety of sweet potatoes (yellow inside, deep purple skin on the outside)

Heat the oven to about 420 deg F / 215 deg C.

Thoroughly wash and scrub the sweet potatoes, then dry. Then place them in a baking sheet, and wrap with a cooking foil. Roast until soft when poked through - anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour depending on your oven.

Take off the foil from the baking sheet, and continue to roast for another 5 minutes.

Turn off the heat, take out the sweet potatoes, and leave at room temperature until it is not hot anymore - about 3-4 hours. The point of this is to let the natural sugars from the sweet potato rise and caramelize the surface.

Peel and enjoy at room temperature.