I can only easily find Okinawan sweet potatoes in grocery stores when I'm in Hawaii, so I try to have some every time I'm here. It's a sweet potato with a light colored skin that when cooked, is a dark purple on the inside with a mildly sweet flavor. It's also packed with anthocyanins, a natural phytochemical present in purple colored fruits and veggies that have been shown in in vitro studies to have antioxidant properties. (Read all about different types of purple tubulars here.)
To enjoy Okinawan sweet potatoes, all you need to do is either boil or steam them, then peel and eat. I steamed eight pounds, so by day 3, I was starting to look for other ways to use up Okinawan sweet potatoes.
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| Okinawan Sweet potatoes (raw) |
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| Steamed, peeled and cut Okinawan sweet potatoes |
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| Baked Okinawan sweet potato mochi |
And I came upon this mochi recipe that looked pretty easy. I did cut back on the sugar and moisture level, added a hint of cinnamon instead of vanilla, and substituted the cow's milk with just water, so it's vegan. I wasn't going to write this up because the mochi came out paler than I thought and wasn't too attractive looking. But when I discovered that this mochi was still soft after refrigeration, I wanted to preserve this recipe (ie. I might use it as an experiment to make mochi ice cream!!! I put a small piece in the freezer to test it's softness and pliability later). Most mochi when refrigerated turns hard, so it's amazing to me that this one doesn't!
Yields 16 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 box mochiko (16 oz)
- 1 t baking powder
- ¼ t salt
- ½ t cinnamon
- 2 c sugar
- 1 can coconut milk (13.5 oz)
- 1 c water
- 2 c okinawan sweet potato, mashed (about 2 sweet potatoes)
Procedures:
- Scrub okinawan sweet potatoes and either steam or boil potatoes until a knife easily goes into the potatoes. Allow to cool, peel and mash the potatoes with a fork. It doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth. A few small lumps are OK.
- In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients except sweet potatoes until well combined. Then fold in the mashed sweet potatoes and pour into an oiled 9 x 13 inch baking tray.
- Bake at 350 F for 1 hour. Cool at room temperature and then cut into small rectangles and enjoy. Keeps at room temperature for 1 day. Refrigerate any leftovers tightly wrapped in saran wrap and it will still remain soft for a few days.