Yakiimo (grilled sweet potato) truck!
“Yakiimo” (やきいも, 焼き芋) is a Japanese grilled sweet potato.
“Yakiimo” are a popular winter snack in Japan. The potatos are cooked over an open flame or on stones heated by fire.
They are often sold from a “Yakiimo truck”, which drives around cities playing music and a Japanese lantern written “Yakiimo” to get attention, like the ice cream man.
The music’s lyrics are “Yakiimoooooo, Ishi yakiimooooo, yakitate!” (焼き芋〜、石焼き芋〜、やきたて〜). This means “Grilled sweet potato, stone-roasted sweet potato, freshly-baked!”, something like that.
Yakiimo trucks are kind of seasonal tradition in winter and make us warm :)
The most common “Yakiimo” are purple on the outside and yellow on the inside. Getting them from Yakiimo trucks is a little bit more expensive than making them by ourselves, but more delicious because the potato are roasted with time and care :)