Looked like a sweet potato - but wasn't. What was it?

Question

I bought something that I thought was a sweet potato but clearly actually wasn't. It was perhaps a deeper pink than a sweet potato, and when I cut out the 'eyes' it oozed a milky white substance that smelled a bit like lychee. When baked it was quite fibrous, very soft and tasted a lot sweeter than I was expecting!

And finally, whatever it was, I have two more - what can I do with them?

I've had a look at pictures of yams (thanks), and I don't think it was one (unfortunately) as they have them *next* to where I bought my random vegetable. It was small - about the size of a normal sweet potato. And very dark pink. But definitely a root vegetable of some description!

Definitely not a beetroot!

Answer 1

It was quite likely a sweet potato, possibly a Japanese sweet potato. (see link below for pictures) They can be eaten the same as regular sweet potatos. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

What you have might actually be a Yucca Potato, or a Jicama.
Those are my two guesses, and I would look up information and recipes concerning those two items if I were you.


EDIT: If your vegetable was a deeper pink than a sweet potato it was positively NOT a yam, even though Yams are often misconstrued to be Sweet Potatoes.


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Answer 3

it was a yam

Although yams and sweet potatoes are both angiosperms (flowering plants), they are not related botanically. Yams are a monocot (a plant having one embryonic seed leaf) and from the Dioscoreaceae or Yam family. Sweet Potatoes, often called ‘yams’, are a dicot (a plant having two embryonic seed leaves) and are from the Convolvulacea or morning glory family.

Yams
Yams are closely related to lilies and grasses. Native to Africa and Asia, yams vary in size from that of a small potato to a record 130 pounds (as of 1999). There are over 600 varieties of yams and 95% of these crops are grown in Africa. Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are starchier and drier.

Sweet Potatoes
The many varieties of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are members of the morning glory family, Convolvulacea. The skin color can range from white to yellow, red, purple or brown. The flesh also ranges in color from white to yellow, orange, or orange-red. Sweet potato varieties are classified as either ‘firm’ or ‘soft’. When cooked, those in the ‘firm’ category remain firm, while ‘soft’ varieties become soft and moist. It is the ‘soft’ varieties that are often labeled as yams in the United States.


Why the confusion?
In the United States, firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams in Africa. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties.

Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires labels with the term ‘yam’ to be accompanied by the term ‘sweet potato.’ Unless you specifically search for yams, which are usually found in an international market, you are probably eating sweet potatoes!

Answer 4

As stated in previous replies a good guess would be yam or yucca - although both are longer and generally narrower than sweet potato (camote).
I would try boiling them in a chicken soup and they can be eaten as part of the soup.

Answer 5

I believe what you have there is a real live yam... you must shop in a relatively cool store!

Most people confuse the two, but they aren't the same thing.
Here's a couple of links, and some fine recipes!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yam_%28vegetable%29

http://homecooking.about.com/cs/productreviews/p/yam_pro.htm

Answer 6

Could be an over-ripe yam

Answer 7

Maybe it was a yam?

Answer 8

It could be yam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yam_(vegetable)

Answer 9

MAYBE A BEETROOT