Sweet Potatoes—Eat It Like A Banana!

It is often said that Chinese have a healthier diet than Americans, and I strongly agree. My friends in China eat less meat than we do, they rarely eat desserts, and they eat more vegetables. One healthy food you can get from a street vendor is a baked sweet potato.

The top of a cooker used to bake sweet potatoes on the street in China

The first time I saw someone walking down the street with a sweet potato in their hand, I was very surprised because I had never seen that done before. But then I saw how it could be peeled and eaten like a banana, making it an easy and clean snack. Oh, the baked sweet potatoes will warm you up on a cold day too!

On a cold day, a Chinese street food vendor sells warm baked sweet potatoes.

It is also very interesting to me to see how the Chinese street vendors cook their sweet potatoes. Often, I’ve seen them use a rusty-looking 55 gallon drum that is stood up vertically. The hot coals are placed around the bottom, and the potatoes are on a rack near the top. Unfortunately, I can’t find my pictures of the 55 gallon drum, but the “oven” shown here is another device used for cooking the sweet potatoes.

To learn more about China, check out Lessons from China: A Westerner’s Cultural Education!

Beau