Jagaimo?

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dr k

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Hi I was wondering if someone can answer the following.
Many years ago when I was in Tokyo I ate a hot sweet potatoe from a street vendor. I think it was called 'Oimo', at least that is what I heard the vendor calling out. Anyway, I live in UK and the climate here is somewhat similar to Tokyo and would like to grow this sweet potatoe.

Please can someone tell me what the scientific name of this potatoe so that I can find the seed or better yet if I someone knows an online seller of the seeds.

Many thanks.
 
Am I wrong if I say that I was under the impression that jagaimo is an extremely different beast from the 'usual' type of white potato we have here in north west Europe?

mos :-)
 
What the OP is looking for is not "jagaimo" but Satsuma imo, the sweet potato.
Sweet potato on Wikipedia
The varieties commonly used for "yaki-imo" (sweet potato roasted on hot stones that street vendors calle "o-imo") are Kintoki, Beni-azuma and Beniaka.

Jagaimo is the common potato consumed commonly in the US and the UK. In Japan, the potato has been "improved," if that is the correct word for it, to adapt to Japanese soil. Presently, the most common varieties are the May Queen, introduced from the UK in the early 20th century, and the Danshaku, developed in the US. They differ in texture, with the May Queen suited to stews and Danshaku to mashed potatoes and certain Japanese dishes.
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Danshaku shown at left and May Queen at right in the pics.
 
In Kamakura my friends little girl got a fried sweet potato "thing"...it looked like a fat hashbrown and I swear it was purple inside. Are there different colored sweet potatoes, or was I mistaken on what this patty actually was? :) I found that I don't like sweet potatoes or yams be they in the USA or Japan. Which brings me to a thought, do they have yams in Japan? We have both here. I don't know the difference between the two, but they seem to be used interchangeably. :)
 
Goldiegirl,

What you saw is the "Murasaki-imo," the purple variety of the common sweet potato.

The Murasaki-imo is fashionable these days because of its "health food" value rather than its taste. The purple pigment contains antioxidants called polyphenols. The sweet potato is also known for its dietary fiber content. For this reason, it is being used in various foods, including chips and even ice cream! 😊

You'll see the varieties (including yam) explained in the Wiki link I posted earlier. :-)
 
Ah, I see. I thought she was referring to some sort of コロッケ. ^^;;
 
doinkies said:
Ah, I see. I thought she was referring to some sort of ﾆ坦ﾆ陳哉鍛ﾆ単. ^^;;
Click to expand...
Maybe she ate a Murasaki-imo korokke, doinkies-chan! :-)
There's a lot of shops in Kamakura selling foods made with the Murasaki-imo. That's where I ate Murasaki-imo "soft cream" for the first time!
 
Sorry I didn't read the wiki link! Opps! Yeah, I saw all this purple ice cream too, I can't believe it's sweet potato. Cool! Thanks for the info. Oh, doinkies, thanks too, I did have a croquette at some fancy restaurant in Tokyo. It was really quite good. The chef told me that it was all vegetarian. Perhaps there was some sweet potato in it! :)
 
imo

The variety in UK has a dark orange inside with loose fibery texture. The ones I had in Tokyo had a creamy yellow inside which was firmer and had this amazing nutty flavour. I cant't remember but I think the street vendor baked in a hot stone or wood but it was just amazing in winter.
 
This is about a year late (I just joined) but the season is right:
What the vendor in Tokyo was calling out was "Yaki-imo." Sometimes they call out "Ishi yaki-imo," meaning sweet potatoes roasted on hot stones.
In the countryside, I have seen them use a wood fire to roast the potatoes on their vending carts as recently as February 2008, but this is not common. The varities used for roasting in Japan are usually Kin-toki or Beni-azuma, as opposed to the varieties used for tenpura (not as sweet). I like to use Red Garnet "yams" (these are really sweet potatoes, not true yams) for this in the U.S., but the flesh may be too orange and smooth for you. You might want to try a more fibrous kind with yellow flesh. Any U.S. sweet potato/yam will do as long as it is not a true South American yam. Here is how to make them at home (I learned this from a yaki-imo vendor in Kamakura, and it works very well): Get a fairly heavy pot and lid large enough for a whole sweet potato (try to buy a sweet potato that is fatter in the middle, i.e., not the long skinny kind). The pot will scorch, so you will have to "dedicate" it to roasting sweet potatoes. Wash the potato well and trim off the ends. Sprinkle a few drops of water on it. Cover. Cook on the top of the stove on the lowest flame possible (gas works best) for about 20 minutes; turn potato and cook for about 20 minutes more. When a knife comes out clean, it's done. Put on a rack to cool. Slice and enjoy. Keeps well in refrigerator. You may have to put the pot on a rack over the burner (I use one meant for grilling fish in Japan) to raise the pot above the flame. The heat really needs to be low. This may sound like a big deal, but if you set a timer to remind you to turn the potato and to turn off the heat, it's easy and you can enjoy "Japanese" yaki-imo anytime.
 
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