In Okinawa, Japan, the Tokko Shrine honors a sailor named Maeda Riemon for bringing sweet potatoes to Japan in 1705. He had encountered this plant—which isn’t actually a potato—in the Ryukyu Islands of the South China Sea, where locals called it “Chinese potato.” Riemon was so impressed by the flavor that he brought tubers home for his garden. Before long, Riemon’s neighbors began growing sweet potatoes, and they spread vigorously throughout Japan. They produce huge yields, and the crop is easy to stockpile and store. In those days, crop failures and famines were common, and the Satsuma-imo, as it was called, fed millions of people through harsh times, including World War II, saving many thousands from starvation.
“Satsuma-imo” means baked Satsuma potato. Its name includes cooking instructions because baked is the best way to prepare it. The flesh becomes soft, fluffy, and moist, with a vanilla-esque aroma and honey-like sweetness. While the inside tastes like crème brûlée, the chewy skin is mild and fun to eat as well. Hot or at room temperature, baked Satsuma is complete and doesn’t require a single condiment, side dish, or even dessert. And if you’re going to make dessert, add some baked Satsuma. It’s like sweet mayonnaise.
Sweet potato comes from South America and arrived in the Ryukyu Islands by way of China, where it had taken hold about a century earlier. Here in the United States, Satsuma-imo grows in every state in the lower 48, but in the northern climes, you'll want to start it inside in a bucket of soil. By the time it’s warm enough outside for some sweet potato transplants, yours will be ready for the ground. You can plant Japanese sweet potatoes among other garden crops, such as tomatoes or spinach. They grow slowly, passing the time as ground cover between the other plants before eventually developing their own delicious, subterranean crop.
While a baked Satsuma needs no improvement or modification, I decided to doctor one anyway. My plan was to prepare it in a way to make it taste even more like itself. Redundancy in the kitchen can be a good thing, like when you’re improving upon perfection. Doubling up can create more nuanced flavors.
In this case, combining the pudding-like sweet potato flesh with the ingredients for custard improved the flavor while increasing the amount of the final product. We have better pudding, and we have more pudding, thanks to the addition of flavors and textures similar to what a Satsuma already brings to the table. Baked slowly in the oven, the pudding develops a chewy shell while staying soft in the middle. It tastes like eggnog, but thicker, with maple syrup for added sweetness, vanilla to match that syrupy Satsuma flavor, coconut milk for creaminess, and tapioca pearls for fun.
Baked Satsuma
This recipe is the only instruction you need for Japanese sweet potato. It’s also step one in my baked pudding recipe.- 1 Japanese sweet potato per person
Using a fork, poke a few holes into the skin of each sweet potato.
Wrap them in foil if you wish. They'll stay more moist and more rosy perfumey that way but without the dense gravitas of a naked baked potato. Try with and without foil to see which you prefer.
Baked Satsuma Pudding
Here we make pudding from a pudding-like tuber, along with more traditional pudding ingredients, to make a crème brûlée, minus the torched sugar on top. I’ve included optional instructions for adding tapioca pearls if desired. Use 4-inch ramekins, ideally, or some kind of small, bakeable ware.- 2 tablespoons tapioca pearls
- 1 cup milk
- 1 pound cooked Japanese sweet potato flesh (no skin)
- 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- Butter, for greasing the ramekins
Heat the tapioca pearls in the milk on low for about 20 minutes or until soft, stirring enough to keep everything loose. When soft, let them cool.
Add the rest of the ingredients to a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Add the egg and beat again until smooth. Stir in the milk-fed tapioca pearls, if using. Pour the mixture into two buttered ramekins, which should bring it to about 3/4 full.
Bake for about 90 minutes, until stiff in the middle. Serve warm or cold.
