Japanese sweet potatoes tossed in sesame oil, fried to a tender crisp and sprinkled with Tokyo Garlic Salt™ and black sesame seeds then dipped in hot mustard "soy" aioli.
Satusuma-imo, or Japanese sweet potato, fries leave regular French fries in the dust. These are very easy to make and shouldn't take you more than about 25 minutes. Take a Japanese sweet potato with purple skin and white flesh, toss it in sesame oil, then fry it to a tender crisp.
Now here's where it gets really Japanesey! I came up with a seasoning that reminds me so much of my days in Japan that I'm dubbing it Tokyo Garlic Salt™. It's made with a special blend of garlic, salt, wasabi, ginger, black sesame seeds and a little Japanese heat.
But we don't stop there. For me, the fry sauce is as important as the fry. Here me out! In Utah we actually have a thing called "fry sauce" made of ketchup and mayonnaise — ketchup aioli, if you will. It just seems right to serve these Japanese sweet potato fries with an fry sauce all their own. Well, sort of! I've been making this aioli for about a decade now and usually serve it with seared ahi. But it goes great with these fries, too! Read on to get the full recipe.
LFG Japanese Sweet Potato Fries
1 Japanese Sweet Potato (purple skin, white flesh)
1 Sweet Potato (any variety with orange flesh)
1 T Sesame Oil
1 T Arrowroot Starch
Black Sesame Seeds and Fresh Chives to garnish
Tokyo Garlic Salt™
1 t Salt
1 t Garlic Powder
1/4 t Ground Ginger
1/4 t Wasabi Powder
1/4 t Cayenne Pepper
1 t Black Sesame Seeds
(this may be more than you'll need, but you can keep it in an airtight container for next time)
Hot Mustard Soy Aioli
1/4 C Mayonnaise (PP compliant with avocado oil or make your own) 2 T Chinese Hot Mustard
1 T Coconut Aminos
Special Equipment
Mandolin Slicer
Deep Fat Fryer filled with Pure Olive Oil
Instructions:
Whip up your hot mustard "soy" aioli first. Add all three ingredients in a ramekin and stir together until well blended.
Next, preheat your deep fat fryer filled with pure olive oil (NOT EVOO) to 300 degrees. With your mandolin slicer, and your French fry or shoestring blade, slice both sweet potatoes. In a very large bowl, toss the sliced potatoes in sesame oil and arrowroot starch. Deep fry in three batches for 5 minutes each or until lightly brown and bubbly. Drain excess oil on a paper towel. Put the fried sweet potatoes back into the large bowl with a few large pinches of the Tokyo Garlic Salt™ and toss.
Plate the fries and the aioli dipping sauce together and garnish with more black sesame seeds and chopped fresh chives.