Korean Sweet Potato TwiGim

Do you have any specific food that brings back good memories from your childhood? My mom used to cook delicious snacks for us when we were little. This Korean sweet potato snack was one of them. Since it is a deep-fried food, she did not make it often, which made us more excited when we had the rare chance to eat it. I remember begging her for a piece that just came out of the boiling oil because I could not wait any longer. lol… The funny thing is my son did the exact same thing even though he never ate it before. Maybe it was the delicious smell that made him want to try it so badly. We think he is a little too young to be eating deep fried foods, but someday he might get his own fond childhoods memories about this food as I did. Every now and then, I crave my mom’s Korean sweet potato twigim. Now, I can make it for myself and it is good enough to tame my desires for my mom’s twigim. 😉

Yield: 25 Pieces

Short Korean Lesson

• GeoUl (거울) = Mirror
• GeoMi (거미) = Spider

Video Instructions

Main Ingredients

• 1 lb Korean Sweet Potato
• ⅔ Cup Frying Mix (Batter)
• ½ Cup Water
• ¼ Cup Frying Mix (Coating)
• 3 Tbsp Potato Starch (or Cornstarch)
• 1 tsp Sugar (Optional)
• ⅛ Generous tsp Salt

Directions

Obtain 1 large Korean sweet potato (about 1 lb, 4-5 inches in length). Wash it good and remove any bad parts on the skin. Cut it into ¼-inch slices. You will get about 25 pieces. Korean sweet potatoes have a different taste and texture than American sweet potatoes. They are sweeter and have a firm texture. So please use Korean sweet potatoes for this recipe.

Sprinkle a generous ⅛ tsp of salt evenly on top of the sweet potato slices. Set them aside what you are preparing the batter. This will help boost the sweetness of sweet potato later. Preheat your oil on medium-high.

Combine ⅔ cup of frying mix, ½ cup of cold (or ice) water, 3 Tbsp of potato starch, and 1 tsp of sugar. Mix everything together. Frying mix is seasoned flour that is good for making batter for deep frying. You can find it in a Korean or Asian grocery store. Cold water is one of the secrets for getting crispy food. You can skip the sugar if you want.

Put ¼ cup of frying mix in a plastic bag and add the sweet potatoes. Shake the bag to coat the sweet potatoes with the frying mix. This will help the batter stick to the sweet potatoes better.

Dip the floured sweet potatoes into the batter. Cover both side of the sweet potatoes with the batter.

Drop a little bit of batter into the heated oil to check if the oil is hot enough. When the batter floats right away, the oil is ready. Put the battered sweet potatoes into the hot oil. Deep-fry them on medium or medium-high, depending on your stove’s power.

Fry them for 5-6 minutes, or until the sweet potato slices are completely cooked, and the outside is golden brown. The easy way to check if a slice is cooked is to poke the center of it with a folk or chopstick. If your chopstick go through smoothly, it is done.

Place some paper towels on a tray and put the fried sweet potato slices there to cool and loose some of the grease.

 

Some people dip the slices into a soy dipping sauce, however I prefer mine just plain. The sweet chestnut flavor of the sweet potatoes and nicely crisp outside make a great combination for both flavor and texture. They taste good both when they are warm or cold. If you can get some delicious Korean sweet potatoes someday, definitely try this. 🙂