中文： 红薯干
Dried sweet potato was one of my childhood favorites. It can be served as a snack or a side dish. It is sweet, soft, and a little bit chewy because of the drying process, which makes it so much joyful to eat dried sweet potatoes.
In sweet potato harvest season, most people in my hometown used to make dried sweet potatoes at home. The homemade version is so much better than the ones you can buy from grocery store. They were dried under the warm autumn sunshine, with the dry warm wind blowing over. For the ten-year-old me, fall is the best season of the year.
That is also why I still make a large batch of dried sweet potatoes every year.
Ingredients：
10 pounds sweet potatoes
water for steaming/boiling
It is super easy and fast to make dried sweet potatoes at home. Steam/ boil them over medium high heat for 25 to 45 minutes, depending their sizes, or until a fork can easily pierce through the center. Remove from heat and let them cool down to room temperature.
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut each into 6 to 8 halves. Transfer to dehydrator racks and dehydrate at 135F/ 57 C for 7 to 8 hours. The time needed is also depending on the sweet potato sizes and how chewy you want them to be. I like mine on the soft side. Dehydrate for a couple more hours if you prefer chewy texture.
There is a natural way to DIY dried sweet potatoes if you don’t have a dehydrator handy. Place them on a cooling rack or any kind of racks you have, and dry them under the sun for 2 to 3 days. It might take an extra couple days to dry if it is cloudy or cold. Again, it is all depending on the sweet potatoes and your personal preferences.
The natural sweetness from sweet potatoes is good enough for me. So I didn’t add any sugar. If you have a sweet tooth, add sugar as needed when steaming or boiling them.
Here it is, one of my childhood favorites!
