Potato digging is a popular event for children in Japan because most children experience this event in primary schools and kindergarten. My family and I went back to my hometown and dug sweet potatoes in my father's farm.
My wife cooked baked sweet potatoes as shown in the picture. When baking sweet potatoes, we put stones in the pot. The stones slow down the heating process and help maintain the temperature between 40 to 60 degrees, allowing the production of more sugar. Doing this would make the baked potatoes sweeter .
My wife also cooked candied sweet potatoes as shown in the picture. It is called "Daigakuimo" in Japanese. "Daigaku" means university and "imo" means potato. According to one website, about 100 years ago, the Store called "Mikawaya" was located in front of Tokyo University. The store started selling fried sweet potatoes which were candied during winter. Then the candied sweet potatoes became very popular for students and professors in Tokyo University. They always called it "Daigakuimo". It was the reason why candied sweet potatoes are called "Daigakuimo" now. "Daigakuimo" is popular dessert among Japanese people.
