After polishing off a delicious bowl of hot miso ramen (though next time I'll go for the straight miso and just add hot pepper - they just add a load of chile oil, which was a bit too greasy for my taste) from Santouka at Mitsuwa Marketplace in Costa Mesa, R bought a sweet potato from the vendor right outside the market.
We could smell them from the parking lot when we first arrived and saw a small crowd gathered around. But we were famished and headed straight for the ramen first. But even as we were still inside Mitsuwa, we could smell the deeply roasted sweetness. As the vendor opened the heavy wooden lid of his cart, I was stunned by the beauties resting atop polished black stones -- like jewels on velvet. He lovingly lifted and caressed ones he thought might be ready, and even opened the other side of the cart to finally find a few for R to choose from. Then he carefully dropped the chosen one into a plain brown paper bag and smiled as he handed it over.
I told R that it reminded me of Korea; he said, "That's funny. It reminded me of Mexico." Since we were still stuffed full of ramen, we took it home and ate it later. It was delicately charred in some parts (my favorite), and almost light and fluffy in the center. The perfect ending to a perfect day. (Taken 091114, with p&s)
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