Candied Yams
Serves: 5+ (side dish)
Time to prepare: 1 to 1.5 hours
A brief discussion about yams and sweet potatoes
Grocery stores where I live typically use the term “yam” and “sweet potato” interchangeably, though these are different vegetables.
If your grocery store knows the difference, you are looking for yams, not sweet potatoes, though this recipe would likely work just fine with either.
If it’s orange in colour, it’s probably a yam.
Ingredients
- 2-3 kg of yams (probably 1-2 large yams, or 5-6 if you are in the 1950s)
- 1 cup (plus a handful) brown sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- salt and pepper
I usually finish this in a foil loaf pan, as I usually cook this dish to take to someone else’s home, and a foil pan is more convenient for this. Do not use foil pans that have plastic lids, the lids will melt.
Steps
- Peel and cube yams. Bigger cubes/chunks are better, ideally larger than 2cm square. I have tried this with smaller cubes, but it just doesn’t work as well.
- Boil yam chunks for about 20 minutes. Avoid overcooking them (until they give-way to a fork), because they will be cooked again.
- Drain water and place in an oven-safe dish, such as a casserole dish, or a foil loaf pan. You do not need a lid. Set aside, or place in fridge while you prepare the next step.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit / 230 degrees celcius
- In a saucepan, mix brown sugar, butter, and water, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.
- Remove sugar mixture from heat when it starts to boil, or when it reaches your desired thickness
- Pour the sugar mixture over the yams, carefully stirring to coat the yam chunks as best as you can
- Sprinkle a handful or two of brown sugar over the coated yam chunks.
- Put coated yam chunks in oven and bake for 20-30 minutes.
- If you can spare the dirty dishes, carefully transfer cooked yam chunks into another large dish, and then back, to mix up any of the syrup that will have settled on the bottom of the pan.