Imokenpi looks like French fries, but it is crunchy and sweet!
It’s a really good snack for hiking.
(Not won’t get crushed easily in your backpack!)
What are Imokenpi made from?
Satsumaimo are main ingredients, which are similar to sweet potatoes.
Imokenpi are a variation of an older snack called just “Kenpi.” Kenpi were a similarly sweet snack made from flower instead of potatoes, first created in the Heian period of Japanese history (About 1,000 years ago) . At that time, sugar and oil were hard to get. So people made it for emperor, it used to be a kind of noble snack.
After WWⅡ, there was a luck of so many kinds of food, but Satsumaimo was comparatively easy to get. That’s why people started making Kenpi with Satsumaimo. This is the beginning of Imokenpi.
Satsumaimo has a sweet flavor in the first place. People use this for pastries as well.
When you cut it open, the inside is yellow. It looks pretty doesn’t it?
They’re cut, dried and deep fried. They’re then stir fried with caramel sauce (sugar and water).
In the end they have a sugary and oily flavor. Sooo yummy.
When my husband ate them first time, he couldn’t stop eating them. 😉
This is standard Imokenpi: 
It has a sugar or honey courting.
You can get almost everywhere in Japan.
Now a days, people started adding salt on it as well.
It called Shio-kenpi:
Shio (塩) means salt. Yes, a salt and sugary flavor! So good like salty caramel.
Some traditional Japanese pastry shops have also started selling it. I also recommend this flavor.
Where can I get Imokenpi in Japan?
At convince store, super market, Don Quixote and online.
Ordering snacks online when visiting Japan (Pick up at convenience store)
More Japanese SNACKS?
Is there any links to get recommendation from SNACKING JAPAN?
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