Eat Like a Local, Eat like Koreans

When the cold winter wind starts to blow in Korea, two iconic snacks immediately come to mind: Roasted Sweet Potatoes (Gungoguma) and Fish-shaped Bread (Bungeoppang).

When I was a kid, you could easily find street vendors roasting sweet potatoes in large oil drums over a crackling wood fire. These days, they’ve become quite hard to find.Instead, you can now buy them much more conveniently and neatly at 24-hour convenience stores. But as you can see in the photo, it just doesn’t have that same “old-school” nostalgic vibe.

I’ve heard that Korean and Japanese sweet potatoes are actually much sweeter than those found in other countries!

So today, I want to share a way to roast them in the oven to maximize that natural sugar and bring out the sweetest flavor possible.

<Ingredients to Prepare>

■Korean or Japanese Sweet Potatoes (You can find them as “Japanese Sweet Potatoes” on Amazon)

<How to Cook> 

The key to maximizing the sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes in the oven is to cook them at a low temperature for a long time. This process allows the starch to convert into sugar. Afterward, finish them at a high temperature to get that perfectly golden-brown, caramelized surface.

1. Wash the sweet potatoes thoroughly, and preheat your oven to 150°C for 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Slow-cook them at 70°C for 30 to 40 minutes. This slow roasting process is what allows the sweetness to develop fully.
3. Flip the sweet potatoes over to ensure even cooking, and roast them at 150–170°C for another 40 minutes.
4. Finally, roast them at 200°C for 10 minutes to finish with a perfectly golden-brown, toasted surface.
5. When you poke them with a chopstick and it slides in smoothly, they’re done! You’ll notice the skin has slightly separated from the flesh, making it incredibly easy to peel.

While roasting them by gradually increasing the temperature makes them incredibly sweet and delicious, it’s said that steaming is actually better for your health. ^^

So, while I love to occasionally bring out that intense sweetness in the oven, I try to eat them steamed as much as possible for a healthier option.

Steaming them is incredibly simple. Just pour enough water into a pot so it doesn’t dry out, place a steamer basket inside, and put the cleaned sweet potatoes on top—that’s it!

Let them steam over medium-low heat for about 30 to 40 minutes. Finally, check if they’re done by poking them with a chopstick. (Please adjust the cooking time depending on the size of the sweet potatoes!)

What is your favorite winter snack?

Best,
MJay from Korea