Sesame Caramelised Sweet Potato

📝 Ingredients

• 500 g sweet potatoes (2 medium ones of about 250 g each)
• 1 tbsp cornflour (about 10 g)
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 3 tbsp honey (about 60 g)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds (about 16 g)
• 1 pinch fleur de sel

🍴 Utensils

• Baking tray
• Baking paper
• Mixing bowl
• Large frying pan
• Spatula
• Clean tea towel

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Scrub the sweet potatoes under running water without peeling them: the skin holds the pieces together and gives a nice contrast. Cut them into irregular 3 to 4 cm chunks, giving the sweet potato a quarter turn between each cut.
2. Soak the pieces for 5 min in a bowl of cold water to remove the excess starch, then drain and dry them thoroughly in a clean tea towel: if still damp, they would steam instead of browning.
3. Put the pieces back in the dried bowl, drizzle with the oil and toss, then sprinkle with the cornflour and toss again until each piece is lightly coated in a thin white layer. Spread them out, well spaced, on the baking tray lined with baking paper.
4. Bake for 25 to 30 min, turning the pieces halfway through, until golden at the edges and the tip of a knife slides right to the centre without resistance.
5. While they bake, toast the sesame seeds in a large dry frying pan over medium heat for 2 to 3 min, stirring, until they turn golden and start to pop. Tip them straight onto a plate to stop the cooking.
6. Put the honey, soy sauce and water in the same frying pan. Heat over medium heat and let bubble for 2 min without stirring, until the syrup forms large bubbles and coats a spoon. Watch closely: any longer and it burns and turns bitter.
7. Lower the heat, add the piping-hot sweet potatoes and turn them gently with a spatula for 1 min, until glossy and fully coated. Sprinkle with the toasted sesame and toss for a few more seconds.
8. Spread the pieces out on a sheet of baking paper so they don't touch, sprinkle with fleur de sel and leave to cool for at least 15 min: the caramel sets slightly and turns crunchy on the surface.