Camote Que the Super Easy Way

Today I was craving for fried bananas. Sad to say, both me and my Josh were too lazy to go to the nearest fruit stand to find bananas and most likely, I wouldn't find one. Then I remember, I have one camote (Japanese sweet potato) in the fridge which had been sitting there for almost a month already. Thankfully, it was still perfect.

The only way I want my camote is caramelized (or we call it "camote que") minus the barbeque stick. Ever seen or try how this is made the traditional way? You heat the oil, put in the brown sugar and camote slices and fry until sugar has melted. In between you have to stir and stir until sugar starts to stick on the camote. If you are unlucky and you got a stubborn sugar, your camote has browned already but the sugar hasn't melted yet. This is the reason why some recipes instructs you to put in the sugar first until melted before adding the sliced camote.

I had tried it that way and it was a great sweat gland stimulator.But there is an easy way to do it. Here's how camote que is made Kate's lazy way.

1. Peel the camote and slice it any way and any thickness you want. The thicker it is, the longer it takes to cook.

2. In a frying pan, heat oil and fry the camote slices until light brown or golden brown, depending on your preference. I want mine golden and a crispy. Remove from the pan once done and drain on paper towels.

3. In a small sauce pan or small frying pan ( I have a very small non stick frying pan which I use, about just 3" in diameter), put your brown sugar and a little water.I say a little water because if you put too much the sugar will take longer to caramelize.

4. Melt sugar until caramelized. It shouldn't take a long time to do it. Drizzle the caramel on your fried camote and mix well until camote is well coated.

Additional Note: (8/31/09) To check if sugar is caramelized, drop a little from a spoon to a bowl of water, if the sugar hardens in the water, that's the signal. I also have to constantly lift the pan from the fire to avoid burning the sugar.

What's great with this method? You don't need that much oil to fry the camote and you can drain excess oil with paper towel.

There you have it. Enjoy!