One of My Favorite Vegan Appetizers

I love these Crispy Japanese Sweet Potato Bites. I’ll often eat them for a highly flavorful, health promoting, low calorie meal. They are sweet, and salty, sour, umami rich, and spicy. That’s a whole lot of flavor in one bite.

The Ingredients in the Crispy Japanese Sweet Potato Bites

This dish is simple to make and contains just a few ingredients.

Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Have you had a Japanese Sweet Potato? If not, you are in for a serious treat. You will recognize them by their purple skin and white flesh.

Japanese sweet potatoes have a much more concentrated sweet flavor than the ordinary sweet potato varieties found in the US. The texture firmer and less moist when cooked. This is ideal for obtaining the super crispy texture when they are air-fried for this recipe.

Miso

Miso is a Japanese fermented soybean paste. It is salty and has a savory depth of flavor. In this recipe, I love to torch the miso to add a complexity to the flavor. There are many brands of miso on the market. One of my favorites is Miso Master. I love the organic mellow white for this recipe.

Kimchi

Kimchi is a Korean dish made with fermented cabbage and chili spices. It is packed with savory umami flavors and offers a nice salty and sour balance to the sweet potato. Some brands use large cabbage pieces. I like to chop the kimchi into small pieces to layer onto the bites. For a vegan kimchi, read the ingredients to ensure it doesn’t contain any fish sauce. Like other fermented foods, kimchi may have the added benefit of boosting our gut health.

Furikake

Furikake is a Japanese seasoning blend often made with sesame seeds, nori flakes and salt. It is wonderful on top of rice and vegetables. One of my favorite dishes is super simple. Cut a ripe avocado in half. Remove the seed. Pour some soy sauce over the avocado and then some furikake. I’m telling you…this is divine!

Basil

I love to chiffonade some basil on top of the Crispy Japanese Sweet Potato Bites. It adds beautiful texture and color and a nice fresh complementary flavor to all of the other ingredients. Check out a video to learn how to chiffonade basil if you are curious and don’t know how. It’s a nice technique to add to your kitchen skills.

Chili Threads for Garnish

The kimchi adds head to the dish, so you don’t necessarily need anymore. However, if you can find some chili threads, they elevate the beauty of the dish. They are made from red pepper and salt. I have them in my pantry and sprinkle them on top of dishes when I am looking for a dramatic touch.

Check out the recipe below. If you try it, please let me and others know how you like it by rating the recipe or leaving a comment. And if you would like to see a video of me making the recipe. Check out my instagram post from March 30th, 2022.