Name: Fondant Japanese Sweet Potatoes
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 2 lbs Japanese sweet potatoes (2 large or 3-4 medium); 2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil; 3 tbsp butter; 2 garlic cloves, halved; salt; pepper; 3/4 cup vegetable stock; 1 batch of maple miso brown butter sauce; sesame seeds for garnish, optional

fondant japanese sweet potatoes on a blue serving plate

These Japanese Fondant Potatoes are crispy on the outside, melt-in-your-mouth buttery soft inside, and sauced in a sweet and savory miso maple brown butter sauce.

What are fondant potatoes?

Fondant potatoes are a French technique of cooking potatoes where they are cut into cylinders, browned on the ends, and then slowly roasted in butter and stock.

They’re crispy on the outside, and melt-in-your-mouth buttery and soft on the inside and full of flavour thanks to cooking it in the stock.

Typically, they’re made using white potatoes such as russet potatoes, but today we’re ‘fondant-ing’ Japanese sweet potatoes.

Japanese sweet potatoes are different than regular sweet potatoes texturally and in their flavour. They have the texture of russet potatoes with a nutty and custard-y flavour like a really sweet chestnut which makes these variety of sweet potatoes ideal for slow roasting.

Ingredients for Fondant Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Japanese sweet potatoes
vegetable or canola oil
butter: use a vegan butter that browns such as Miyoko’s or this recipe for homemade vegan butter.
garlic
salt
pepper
vegetable stock
maple miso brown butter sauce
sesame seeds: optional, but highly recommended!

How to Make Fondant Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Pre-heat oven to 425 F (220 C) convection or 400 F (200 C) fan forced.
Peel the potatoes and slice the ends off. Slice enough of the ends off so you have a good amount of surface area to ensure even cooking. Cut the potatoes into 1 1/2 inch thickness. Soak in cold water for 10 minutes to remove excess starch.
Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet or oven safe pan over to high heat. Pat the potatoes dry and then place the potatoes in the pan and cook for 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Move them around a bit half way to ensure they don’t stick to the pan. Season with sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Flip the potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.
Use paper towels to blot excess oil out of the skillet.
Add the butter and garlic to the pan between the potatoes. Let the butter melt and fizzle a bit to let the garlic flavour infuse. Baste all the potatoes with the butter.
Remove garlic and pour in vegetable stock. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper.
Place into the oven and cook for 40 minutes or until tender. If at any point the pan looks dry, add a bit more hot stock, enough to coat the pan.
Remove from oven. Place on a serving dish and drizzle with the miso maple brown butter sauce. Add sesame for garnish if desired. Enjoy!!

Tips for making perfect Fondant Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Cut off a good amount of the tips: a larger surface area will help with even and faster cooking.
Cut into similar size and shapes: this will ensure even cooking when slow roasting in the oven.
Baste the potatoes before roasting: this adds favour to the whole potato instead of just the bottom half.

What to serve with Fondant Sweet Potatoes

I would consider these fondant sweet potatoes a side dish and would pair wonderfully with a protein and salad of your choice for a well rounded meal.

Fondant Potatoes FAQ

Can I use regular orange sweet potatoes? I haven’t tried them for myself but I’m sure they will come out great! Let me know how they go if you do try it out 🙂
Can I leave the skin on? Yes, you can if you wish.

More Japanese Sweet Potato recipes to try:

If you recreate this Fondant Japanese Sweet Potatoes recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
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