Over the weekend, when I was standing near a display of Okinawan Sweet Potatoes, I overheard a conversation between a man and his friend that piqued my ever-present food interest. And because I don’t always listen to my mama by not talking to strangers, I asked the man dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt and black slacks to elaborate on his enthusiastic exclamations about these sweet potatoes.

He told me how he liked to bake them on a low heat for a certain length of time. I figured that he, a waiter who’s been working for many years at the oldest Chinese restaurant in my city’s Chinatown, probably knew a thing or two or three hundred about cooking, so I’d better listen up.

I left the store with a few of the sweet potatoes and a small package of brown sugar (and maybe a half-dozen snacks, natch).

Obligatory brown sugar shot before I get to the really good stuff.

The Okinawan Sweet Potatoes after washing, patting dry, and baking them whole at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour and 15 minutes. (Please remember that oven temperatures vary; you basically want to bake the sweet potatoes until they’re mushy all the way through.)

Some of you may recall that I’ve previously posted about Okinawan Sweet Potatoes. In that post, I wrote about how I prepared this Japanese starch by peeling, slicing, and microwaving. I don’t know what I was thinking with that. Because after baking them, I will never use that method again.

Baking yields a very naturally sweet and, for lack of a better word, moist sweet potato. (I apologize for using the word moist, which I know is like hearing nails on a chalkboard for some people.)

And the color? A gorgeous, deep purple.

A mouthful of brown sugar, butter, and Okinawan Sweet Potato. So simple, so good.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers. May your holiday meals be filled with food worth getting seconds for.

Cindy