Imo mean potato.
Daigaku means university.
So the candied sweet potatoes we had are known as "University Potatoes."
I had no idea why, so I browsed around the web. Most websites that ventured an opinion suggested that the dish was popular among university students. One website suggested it had to do specifically with Tokyo University. I contacted a friend who's exceptionally well-read on things Japanese, partly because she's a professional translator. She checked the Japanese version of WikiPedia (the English version hadn't had anything) and found two stories, each of which derived the name from a different Tokyo area university student connection.
Back to the names. . .
Naruto is a city just north of here, where the sweet potato variety Naruto Kintoki was presumably developed.
Kintoki uses the Chinese characters meaning golden time. Sounds like a nice name for a vegetable. There a bean that uses kintoki as part of its name.
Naruto Kintoki package label
Satusuma is the old (pre-20th century) name for one of the southernmost parts of Japan. It was one of those few parts of Japan that had contact with the outside world during the two and a half centuries when the country was closed on pain of death to anyone having contact with foreigners. Sometime in this Edo Era a new crop appeared in Satsuma, a new variety of potato unknown in the rest of Japan. Or perhaps it had always been grown there. Or perhaps it had come by trade at an earlier period. But I think that most likely it appeared as the fruit of some clandestine trade carried on with people in the Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawa) who themselves had extensive trade contacts with Southeast Asia and China. (Both China and Japan claimed to be the overlords of the tiny Ryukyu Kingdom. That's a story for another time, or maybe another blog.)
Then a famine hit Japan. It affected the whole country, except for Satsuma. When representatives of the Bafuku (the national government) inquired into the reason the people of Satsuma hadn't starved along with the rest of the country, they were told about this crop that had done well and kept the local people in good health. The government ordered that seed plants be sent throughout the country, to protect the whole nation. As a result, this new potato, known as The Potato from Satsuma (Satsuma Imo), came to be grown even in the Tokyo area, where university students could eat it, coated with a sweet candy glaze.
Cut the sweet potatoes into chunks, whatever size and shape you like. I left the skin on some, which is basically never done in Japan. Soak them in water, drain, and pat dry.
You're supposed to deep fry them. I sauteed, which didn't work as well, probably because I wasn't careful enough to cook them evenly but thoroughly. Meanwhile, I combined about 1/3 cup white sugar, 2 tablespoons of water, and 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce in a saucepan and brought it slowly to a boil, stirring constantly, until it was clear.
Unfortunately, I burned them a little.
Then I tossed them with the syrup and sprinkled on freshly toasted white sesame seeds. You're supposed to use black, but I didn't have any. Eat warm, cool, or cold.
Tthey tasted okay, but I'll try to control the heat better next time.
Incidentally, plain baked sweet potatoes have long been sold out of carts trundled around the streets of Japan. I saw such a yatai (portable shop) parked in front of a hospital last winter. Daigaku imo are sold everywhere, even in the take-out section of supermarkets.
And by the way, I bought these Naruto Kintoki at the local farmers' market. The label included the grower's name.
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