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🍡 Imo-yokan (Sweet Potato Cake)

"Imo-yokan", a sweet potato cake, is made by steaming, kneading, and molding sweet potatoes and other ingredients. It is a Japanese confectionery created by a sweet potato wholesaler and a confectionery craftsman in Asakusa during the Meiji Era. At that time, "kneaded yokan" (=a bar of sweet bean paste) was expensive and common people did not have many opportunities to eat it. The sweet potato wholesaler and confectioner devised a treat that could be used as a substitute for "kneaded yokan" using sweet potatoes, which were a readily available ingredient. "Imo-yokan", which was cheaper than "kneaded yokan", was welcomed as a Japanese confectionery familiar to the common people.