Autumn Foods: Sweet Potato treats in Kawagoe

Kawagoe is one of the most famous places for sweet potato in Japan. Sweet potatoes were introduced here in the 18th century when other crops were failing miserably. It turns out the soil and conditions in Kawagoe made it an ideal place to harvest sweet potato. And it soon became the sweet potato kingdom of Kanto. 

To this day sweet potato flourish in Kawagoe. There are several tourist digging farms and planting experiences for visitors to enjoy in the rural area of Kawagoe. Moreover, in the tourist area of the city, there are dozens of sweet potato food experiences to be had. There are some truly unusual sweet potato treats available in Kawagoe, but so far this autumn I have played it safe. Here are some of the Autumn Sweet Potato treats I've indulged in this year:

1. Thin potato chips

You can get these famed thin potato chips all year round in Kawagoe. But they taste particularly good in Autumn when the sweet potato have been freshly plucked. The chips come with a flavored sauce. There are about ten choices of sauce to choose from. Their number one best seller is the salty butter flavor. I wasn't particularly taken with this flavor dip, but the chocolate cream one is very nice. You can have just plain too, and they are quite nice on their own without any sauce. However, best to eat them fresh. They lose their crispness and become oily with time. More information on the City-cost review here. 

2. Sweet potato ice-cream cones

Sweet potato ice-cream is purple rather than yellow or orange as you might expect. There are dozens of places in Kawagoe where you can pick up sweet potato (or plain old potato) flavored ice-creams. You'll see the purple ice-cream stand outside the shops that sell them. Other shops sell ice-cream cones with a sweet potato sauce trickled over it. This sauce usually looks like honey. To be honest, when it comes to ice-cream I prefer a touch of sweet potato with my ice-cream rather than the 'cream' being masked by sweet potato. So for me, the regular old white ice-cream with a smudging of the more appetizing honey colored sweet potato sauce is the winner. 

3. Sweet potato pudding

If you are thinking Christmas pudding, think again! Pudding in Japan is the word for a dessert similar to crème caramel or caramel custard. Kawagoe Pudding sells a sweet potato crème caramel. I love the way it is packaged - in a reusable glass jar - but the jury is out on the taste!

4. Chocolate sweet potato crunches

Bromagee was the first shop specializing in chocolate to open in Kawagoe. They have several different flavors of chocolate crunches, and no surprises sweet potato flavor is one of them. They also sometimes have these muffin type desserts pictured above. 

5. Sweet potato rusks

Another thing that is plentiful in Kawagoe is rusks. Sweet potato rusks I actually haven't seen that much though. So when I saw them in a shop in the Penny Candy Alley I just had to try them out. There were really delicious. The sweet potato flavor really suits the crispiness of a rusk.

All of these sweet potato snacks are available for take-out and not just because of Coronavirus. While eating and walking is for the most frowned upon in Japan, Kawagoe is one of a few places where eating and walking is welcomed. Not only is it allowed, its practically expected. And if you've come all the way to Kawagoe for a day trip, you just have to try some sweet potato treats. Particularly in Autumn when they are in season.