We discover a trick to make this DIY sweet snack even more delicious.

“Wait, dude, what? You haven’t tried it yet?”

Our reporter P.K. Sanjun didn’t really appreciate his friend’s tone of voice, and the smirk on his face didn’t really sit well with him either. But P.K. had to admit that his buddy’s surprise wasn’t completely unfounded. Here at SoraNews24 we’re always on the lookout for unique food and tasty treats, and with P.K. also being openly enthusiastic about sweet potato snacks and sweets, it was natural to assume that he’d already fallen in love with Spread It and Toast It and It’ll be Just Like a Sweet Potato Spread, a sweet potato spread from Japan’s discount retailer Don Quijote.

But despite hitting that trifecta of aspects that would give P.K. both a professional and personal reason to try it ASAP, up until his friend tipped him off about it our reporter had been unaware of the existence of Nutte Yaitara Maru de Yaki-imo Spread, to use its Japanese name. Now that he knew about it, though, he extricated himself from the conversation as swiftly as he could and dashed to the nearest Don Quijote branch to pick up a tub for taste-testing purposes.

The sweet potato spread is part of Don Quijote’s Jonetsu Kakaku (“Passionate Price”) private brand, which seeks to deliver good quality products at the affordable prices the chain is known for. A 140-gram (4.9-ounce) pack is priced at 431 yen (US$3), and with no rival sweet potato spread to compare it to we can’t really comment on how good a deal it is, but if nothing else it’s probably safe to say that this isn’t going to rupture anyone’s grocery budget unless you’re not eating a container a day.

This isn’t just a tub of pure pureed sweet potato, though. It’s more like peanut butter, but made with sweet potato instead. According to the official product description from Don Quijote, they fine-tuned the ratio of ingredients by a single percent at a time to achieve the optimum flavor that comes closest to a freshly roasted sweet potato, but in a spreadable-on-bread form.

For best results, you’re supposed to put the sweet potato spread on a slice of bread and then toast them together. As for how much spread you’re supposed to use, that’s up to you. Once again referring to the official product description, Don Quijote says that using a conservative amount will produce a crisp texture after toasting, while a thicker slathering will retain a moister, more substantial consistency, so P.K. decided to do one slice in each style.

The directions say to toast the bread until it browns but doesn’t burn. Once the slices achieved that enticing color, P.K. pulled them out of the toaster oven and plated them.

Starting with the lightly spread slice, P.K. was a little underwhelmed. Though it had a pleasant sweet potato aroma, the flavor was modest and subdued. Not bad, but not really the sort of thing that he felt he’d be putting into his regular snack rotation.

But then…

…it was time to taste the second slice, the one he’d applied a thicker layer of the sweet potato spread to. This was exactly what he’d been hoping for, full of deliciously sweet sweet potato flavor…and it was about to get even better.

As mentioned above, using less spread results in a crisper texture, which P.K. actually enjoys, but the flavor is a lot better with the thicker spread. Just when he thought he was going to have to compromise on his precise preferences, though, something wonderful happened: the outer layer of the thicker spread developed some extra crispiness as it more fully caramelized from the residual heat from its time in the toaster oven. P.K. now had a slice with the best flavor and most satisfying texture, so he recommends using a thick layer of spread, then letting it sit for a minute or so after coming out of the toaster before you dig in.

P.K.’s still not sure how he missed the announcement for Spread It and Toast It and It’ll be Just Like a Sweet Potato Spread, or how he failed to notice it in the several months it’s been on the market since. Still, as they, or, um, as we say, it’s better to be late to the sweet potato party than to never show up at all, and between this and our new DIY melon bread-making skills, we’re probably going to need to make another bread run very soon.

Reference: Don Quijote
Photos ©SoraNews24
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