If the only sweet potato you know and love has bright orange flesh, it’s time to meet the Japanese, or Korean, sweet potato. Dark red-purple outside and creamy white inside, this sweet potato is a mainstay in Asia and Central and South America.
Pierre Nuñez of Finca La Bella grows Japanese sweet potatoes on his 5-acre farm in Stockbridge. “We sell at the farm on Sundays by appointment and these potatoes are very popular with our Hispanic and Korean customers,” he said.
Last year the farm experimented with two 50-foot rows. “We sold out within an hour of harvesting,” Nuñez said.
This year he planted 10 200-foot rows to be sure to have enough for his customers. “We get transplants from Tennessee and put them in the ground at the end of April. They grew and grew, covering the ground like a giant green sea,” he said.
The harvesting is like that of any sweet potato. The plants are dug up and the sweet potatoes are left in the sun to dry for a few days of curing. Then they go into cool, dark storage — in Nuñez’s case, a cellar underneath the farmhouse.
Nuñez, whose family comes from the Dominican Republic, said his favorite way to eat these potatoes is for breakfast. “We bake them in a wood fire, wrapped in foil and buried in the ash. Keep the fire going for two or three hours, then leave the potatoes overnight. The next morning, as soon as you’ve made a fresh pot of coffee, you dig into the ash for your potato. They have an indescribable smoky flavor,” he said.
Next choice? Stewing the potatoes with beans for a dish he says is so traditional it can be served at any and every meal.
Japanese sweet potatoes have a drier flesh than our familiar yellow-fleshed varieties with an almost chestnut-like flavor. Roasting concentrates the sugar and turns the flesh golden.
Over at the Buford Highway Farmers Market, they’re so enamored of this particular sweet potato that they devote a whole cooking school class to it. On Oct. 15, they’ll demonstrate recipes using Japanese sweet potatoes in recipes ranging from Mango Mustard Sweet Potato Salad to Fried Shoestring Satsuma Imo with Roasted Szechuan Pepper Salt. For more information on the class, go to http:// bit.ly/bhfmsweetpotato.
At local farmers markets
Cooking demos:
4-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10. Chef Seth Freedman of Forage and Flame offers demos throughout the market. East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.farmeav.com
9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12. Chef Gary Donlick of Bistro Niko, working with sweet potatoes. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12. Chef Kevin Gillespie of Gun Show. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
For sale
Vegetables, fruit and nuts: apple cider, apples, arugula, Asian greens, beets, broccoli rabe, carrots, celery, chard, chestnuts, collards, cucumbers, dandelion. edamame, eggplant, escarole, field peas, figs, frisee, garlic, ginger, green beans, herbs, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, leeks, lettuce, Malabar spinach, muscadines, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, pea shoots, pears, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, sorrel, spinach, spring onions, summer squash, sweet potatoes, sweet potato greens, tomatoes, turmeric, turnips, winter squash
From local reports
Habichuela Guisadas (Stewed Red Beans with Sweet Potatoes)
Hands on: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes, plus overnight soaking, depending on age of beans
Makes: 10 cups
Every Latin American and Caribbean culture serves a version of rice and beans. This is one that might be served in the Dominican Republic and is so ubiquitous that Pierre Nuñez of Finca la Bella says it’s called the “Dominican flag.”
1 pound dried pinto or cranberry beans
1 medium red onion, cut in half lengthwise, peeled but root end left intact so halves hold together
1 medium red bell pepper, cut in half, seeded, stem removed
1 medium green bell pepper, cut in half, seeded, stem removed
1 small bundle cilantro leaves, tied with kitchen twine
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Juice of 1 lime
2 large Japanese sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 pounds)
Salt and pepper
Hot cooked rice, for serving
In a large bowl, cover beans with cold water. Cover and soak overnight.
When ready to cook, drain beans and put them in a large saucepan. Add onion, red pepper, green pepper and cilantro, then add water to cover and cook until tender. The time will vary depending on the freshness of the beans. Start testing after one hour. When beans are tender, discard onion, peppers and cilantro. Drain, reserving cooking liquid.
In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add garlic, oregano and lime juice and cook until garlic is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add drained beans and enough bean cooking liquid to make a soupy mix. Mash some of the beans in the cooking liquid to thicken the mixture. Stir in potatoes and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Season to taste and serve with rice.
Per 1-cup serving: 261 calories (percent of calories from fat, 12), 11 grams protein, 48 grams carbohydrates, 14 grams fiber, 3 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 15 milligrams sodium.
