Staff Writer Lia Jung brings you yet another Fall beverage recipe for those suffering from Pumpkin Spice fatigue.

Sweet potatoes don’t get enough nearly as much love in the States as they do in some other places. On the Thanksgiving table, sweet potatoes only appear as a mere side piece or as a roast, and besides that, they rarely ever make it to the kitchen table. Meanwhile, Pumpkin Spice hogs all the attention and love even though it actually tastes like nutmeg and bullshit.

The lack of love for sweet potatoes in the States kind of makes sense, though, because the most common variety you get here is not nearly as epic as the ones you get in South Korea. Known as “goguma” (고구마), these versatile root vegetables are a staple Fall/Winter comfort food in SK. They are incorporated into cakes, casseroles, crisps and even into pizza crusts.

This does not mean that you can’t recreate this recipe from where you are, because apparently you can get goguma at Whole Foods (labelled as Japanese sweet potato) and I’ve heard that Hawaiian/Okinawan sweet potatoes also taste pretty damn close to gogumas. I know all of this sounds like a hassle, but using the right variety will give you that creamy, frothy texture. The chestnutty flavour of gogumas make for great snacks if you steam them whole and just eat them like bananas.

Ingredients:

• 2 whole gogumas (sweet potatoes)
• 40ml water (for microwave)
• 4 tsp brown sugar
• 1/4 stick of butter (around 20g)
• 90ml or a little less than half a cup of water (for blender)
• 500ml or 3 cups of milk
• Cinnamon powder for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1. Thoroughly rinse and peel the sweet potatoes, cut off the edges and slice them in halves lengthwise. Chop into cubes.
2. Put the chopped sweet potatoes and 40ml of water in a microwavable bowl and microwave for around 3-5 minutes. (This is so much easier than cooking them in a steamer which takes around 20 minutes)
3. Put the cooked sweet potatoes in a blender. Add 4 tsp brown sugar, 1/4 stick of unsalted butter, milk, and water and blend on medium-high speed for 2 minutes
4. Pour the blend into a cup, microwave for extra minute to get a steaming hot gogouma latte, or alternatively pour into a chilled glass with ice cubes to get an iced goguma latte.
5. Sprinkle cinnamon powder on top as a finishing touch!

Sweet Potato Latte via Lia Jung