The sweet potato is said to have reached the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1605, when Noguni Sokan brought seedlings back from Fujian in China. Gima Shinjo spread its cultivation across the islands, and from there it traveled through Satsuma to the rest of Japan. On a winter evening, I ate sweet potatoes roasted over the rocket stove.
Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes
- Stones
How I made it
- Stack driftwood in the rocket stove and light it
- Line an iron pot with stones, lay the sweet potatoes on top and roast
Sources: ryukyushimpo.jp
This moment in the journey
Roasted sweet potatoes, winter in Okinawa
Even in Okinawa, the temperature drops in the evening. I went out to the garden and lit the rocket stove, stacked with driftwood.
I lined an iron pot with stones, laid sweet potatoes on top, and set them to roast. While I waited, I brewed coffee through a cloth filter. Then, with a steaming sweet potato in my hands, I realized I had eaten shaved ice and stone-roasted sweet potato on the same day. Winter in Okinawa grants you wishes you didn't know you had.
Watch this scene on YouTube2:52
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