Kǎo Hóng Shǔ: Roasted Sweet Potato

The story

When autumn arrives in China, the smell of roasting sweet potatoes fills the streets. Vendors push carts fitted with oil-drum ovens, slow-roasting sweet potatoes over hot stones or coals until the sugars caramelize and the skin chars. This is one of China’s most universal street foods, crossing region, class, and age. The tradition dates back centuries, and the sight of sweet potato smoke rising on a cold evening brings back old memories for almost every Chinese person.

What to expect

A vendor pulls a blackened, slightly collapsed sweet potato from the oven and wraps it in a paper bag. Peel back the charred skin and inside is a deep orange, almost translucent flesh that’s so naturally sweet it tastes like it has been glazed with honey. The texture is creamy and melt-in-your-mouth. Steam rises from the center. Simple and satisfying, it reads as a natural dessert.

Tips

The best sweet potatoes are the ones with dark, caramelized juice leaking from the skin, indicating thorough roasting. Sold by weight, so the vendor weighs it for you. This is the ultimate zero-allergen, zero-additive Chinese street food. Available everywhere from October through March.