PHOTO: Ibaraki Gold
IBARAKI GOLD: Sliced sweet potatoes glisten in the sun as shipping season for the popular dried delicacy continues in full swing in Ibaraki Prefecture, the nation’s largest producer of dried sweet potato. Harvested potatoes are aged for over a month before being steamed, sliced and dried for two days at Kawamata Nosan, an agricultural company in the city of Hitachinaka. Production continues through the early part of March.
HITACHINAKA, Ibaraki >> Golden sweet potato slices glistened in the sun as shipping season for the delicacy entered full swing in Ibaraki Prefecture, the nation’s largest dried sweet potato producer.
Once harvested, the potatoes are aged for over a month then steamed, sliced and mechanically dried before being sun-dried for two days at Kawamata Nosan, an agricultural company in Hitachinaka that specializes in the snack’s production. Preparations are set to continue through the early part of the month.
Sweet potatoes are said to become more fragrant and brighter in color when exposed to sunlight.
“We have received many mail-in requests for our product, spurred on by the increase of time people spend at home amid the coronavirus crisis,” said company president Shoichi Kawamata.
