Kenpi ( / ˈkɛmpi / けんぴ) or Imo-kenpi (芋けんぴ, 芋 meaning "potato" (especially "sweet potato")) is a snack food and common

omiyage A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

meibutsu is a term most often applied to regional specialties (also known as ). can also be applied to specialized areas of interest, such as , where it refers to famous tea utensils, or Japanese swords, where it refers to specific named famous blades. ...

from

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. They are strips of

candied Candied fruit, also known as glacé fruit, is whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it. Depending on the size and type of ...

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

, resembling

french fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...

in appearance, but are hard and sugary sweet in taste. Now, in Japan, almost all super markets and convenience stores sell kenpi of their own brands. You can get kenpi everywhere. One Japanese manga describes kenpi as an aphrodisiac. A phrase, "You have kenpi in your hair." became famous in SNS. Kenpi is made from 5 cm strips of raw sweet potato (the purple skinned variety, peeled) that is fried in 160 degree C oil until golden brown and most of the moisture has been extracted from the sweet potato (i.e. the foaming of the oil has stopped), leaving the cooled product crisp. The strips are drained of excess oil. A sugar glaze is made of granular sugar, a trace of salt for flavor, and water that is heated to just short of the hard boil stage over medium-low heat and then poured over the fried sweet potatoes. The strips are then separated, placed on a rack, and allowed to drain of any excess sugar until cool. The sugar sauce typically sugars as it glazes due to having been disturbed while hot or due to introduction of sugar crystals while cooling. Because of the high sugar content, once cooled, the kenpi must be immediately stored in sealed bags or containers to maintain crispness. Variations include different varieties of sweet potatoes, inclusion of the skin, different amounts of salt in the sugar mixture, different additional flavorings (e.g. ginger), and different sugar sauce preparation methodologies (i.e. fudge, sugared glaze, clear glaze, and caramelization). Because any sugar sauce can be caramelized, any variety of already established caramel flavoring methods can also be used (e.g. cream, coffee, chocolate, liquors) provided that a hard glaze is still attained. Thus in theory, a peel on, gingered, caramelled, brandy flavored kenpi should be attainable. 100g of Imo Kenpi has 90 Calories; typical American "French Fries" have 141 Calories.

References

{{Japan-cuisine-stub Sweet potato dishes Snack foods Japanese snack food Deep fried foods