Making the Daigaku Imo takes a little effort, but it is a Japanese sweet that is as popular as roasted sweet potatoes. The crunchy surface and chewy texture are addictive. Moderately sweet caramel syrup is also appetizing. Enjoy with green tea or Hoji-cha (roasted green tea)!

For me, Daigaku Imo was between snacks and meal. When I was young, on days when I had no appetite, I had to eat only the Daigaku Imo that I bought from outside. That is the Daigaku Imo for me.

At my son’s kindergarten, there is an opportunity to experience sweet potato harvesting in the fall. He brings fresh sweet potatoes at home. It’s too much for my family, so I usually distribute them to my neighbors and moms. Other than that, I usually just grill it or use for the Nikujaga and the Japanese curry rice instead of potatoes.

• What is Daigaku Imo ?

This sweet syrup-covered sweet potato is called “Daigaku Imo” in Japanese and is a sweet snack made from fried sweet potatoes covered with hard sugar cane.

“Daigaku” means the university and “Imo” means potatoes in general. You may wonder why it’s called “University”. There are several stories but I heard that there was a student from the Tokyo University who made this Daigaku Imo and sold at school to earn money for his study.

• About Japanese sweet potatoes (Satsumaimo)

The Japanese sweet potatoes have purple color outside and beautiful creamy yellow color on the inside. These Japanese sweet potatoes are very popular overseas, and recently, branded potatoes like Japanese beef have come out. There are Beni Haruka(紅はるか), Anno Imo(安納芋), Beni Azuma(紅あずま), Silk sweet(シルクスイート) etc.

• Watch How To Make Daigaku Imo

Recipe : Daigaku Imo

• You might also like…
  1. Osekihan (Festive rice with sweet potato) 
  2. Nikujaga (Sweet potato version)
  3. Sweet potato and fried tofu miso soup

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on July 10, 2015. The post has been updated in September 20, 2020 with more information for the dish and with new images.