Monday, January 24, 2011

Okinawa Purple Sweet Potatoes (And Don't Call Them Yams)








When our friend "Raffish" returned from Okinawa, he brought us a box of cookies made with Okinawa purple sweet potatoes.

They're described like this: a dingy beige on the outside; purplish-white on the inside. When you cook them, the inside becomes a brilliant purple-blue color.



Like Graham crackers for American diabetics, these purple sweet potatoes are allowed for Asian diabetics.


They're said to contain more antioxidants than blue berries and they're grown in Okinawa, Hawaii and parts of Korea. They are believed to have arrived in Okinawa around 1605.


Interesting side note: Five times as many Okinawa residents live to be 100 than the rest of Japan.

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