The dish is called Goguma Mattang in Korea and Daigaku Imo in Japan. Unlike the American version which is served as a side dish, the Korean and Japanese candied sweet potatoes, cooked without butter and often topped with black sesame seeds, are served as a snack.
But that’s really an aside. This is a recipe for the American side dish — baked, not deep fried, and cooked with copius amounts of butter.
Ingredients
- 500 grams sweet potatoes
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar firmly packed
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into one-inch cubes.
- In a large bowl, toss the sweet potato cubes with brown sugar.
- Take a tablespoon of the melted butter and brush on the bottom of a shallow baking pan.
- Spread the brown sugar coated sweet potato cubes on the buttered pan in a single layer.
- Drizzle the remaining melted butter over the sweet potatoes.
- Sprinkle the salt and pepper evenly over the sweet potato cubes.
- Bake the sweet potatoes at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes or until a fork inserted at the center or a sweet potato cube goes all the way through without resistance.