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This Kamote Cue is a popular Filipino street food that is made from sweet potato pieces deep-fried with a coating of caramelized brown sugar. It’s the perfect hot and crispy afternoon snack or sweet dessert to enjoy with your favorite sweet dipping sauces.
Table of Contents
What is Kamote Cue?
Kamote Cue (or kamotecue) is a popular Filipino snack or street food. It’s made from sweet potato (locally known as “kamote”) pieces that are sliced, coated in brown sugar, and then deep-fried until caramelized. Like Banana Cue, the name comes from the combination of two words: kamote and barbecue, but there is no grill involved!
Instead, “cue” refers to a cooking style used with typical street food in the Philippines. The result is a sweet, crispy, and slightly chewy snack with a caramelized exterior. It’s often served on skewers for easy handling, especially when purchased from street vendors.
If you love Filipino sweet treats, make sure to try some of our other popular Filipino recipes including this Creamy Ube Pie, this Avocado with Condensed Milk, and this Ube Pichi Pichi (Filipino Sticky Cassava Snack).
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Sweet potatoes: White sweet potatoes are the most common choice and yield the best result based on our testing. If you have leftover fresh ube from making our Ube Champorado, you can use it in this recipe to make ube cue!
- Sugar: We used light brown sugar in this recipe, but muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar would work as well.
- Oil: We use canola oil for deep frying because it has a high smoke point, is affordable, and is widely available to most. It also has a neutral flavor that will allow the sugar flavor to shine!
Equipment Needed
- Pan or wok, for frying
- Optional: bamboo skewers, for serving
- Cooling rack or clean plate
- Heat safe tongs
How to Make Kamote Cue
- Heat the oil. Heat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of oil in a deep frying pan or work over medium-low heat. You don’t want too much oil, just enough to cover about half of the potatoes.
- Prepare the potatoes. Wash and peel the sweet potatoes, then cut them into round slices about 1/2-inch thick.
- Pan-fry the sweet potatoes. Carefully add the sliced sweet potatoes to the oil and cook until the inside is tender and the outside is cooked. This typically takes about 5-8 minutes. Once ready, carefully remove the potatoes from the oil and transfer them to a plate. We fried ours in 2 batches.
- Sprinkle the sugar in the oil. Sprinkle the brown sugar into the hot oil and wait until the sugar starts to caramelize.
- Caramelize the sweet potatoes. Transfer the sweet potatoes back to the oil and sugar mixture and toss until golden brown and well coated in the caramelized sugar.
- Transfer to a cooling rack. Remove the candied sweet potatoes from the pan using a slotted spoon and shake off any excess oil. Place the potatoes on a wire rack and let cool.
- Skewer: If you’d like to skewer your deep-fried sweet potatoes, it is best to do it as soon as it’s removed from the sugar coating. As it cools, the sweet potatoes will continue to harden and make it more difficult to skewer.
- Serve. Once cool enough to handle, dig in and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
If your caramelized sweet potatoes turn out soggy, there are a few possible reasons, but it is most likely the oil was not hot enough. If the oil is below 350F, the sweet potatoes will absorb oil as opposed to caramelizing and become soggy. To make sure the oil is between 350F and 375F, we recommend investing in a thermometer.
Our coconut caramel sauce (latik) from our Suman Malagkit recipe makes the perfect dipping sauce. It adds a rich, creamy sweetness that compliments the caramelized coating on the sweet potato slices. You can also use a chocolate sauce, muscovado sugar syrup, or sweetened coconut condensed milk. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
Kamote cue is one of the many naturally vegan Filipino snacks and street foods. To ensure that the sugar used in the recipe is vegan, opt for an organic variety. We love the brand Wholesome. It is always organic, fair trade, and certified vegan-friendly!
Although you could technically use any colored sweet potato, white sweet potatoes are ideal for this recipe as they are sweeter and produce a better end result.
Storage Instructions
This popular Filipino street food is best served fresh.
More Filipino Snacks You May Enjoy:
Filipino
Easy Taho Recipe with Arnibal
Filipino
Ginataang Bilo-Bilo with Langka
Filipino
Turon (Banana Lumpia)
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you make this recipe. We love to see your photos!
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Kamote Cue (Filipino Candied Sweet Potatoes)
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Kamote Cue is a popular Filipino street food that is made from sweet potato pieces deep-fried with a coating of caramelized brown sugar. It’s the perfect afternoon snack or sweet dessert to enjoy while hot and crispy with your favorite sweet dipping sauces.
Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- High-heat oil for frying
Instructions
- Heat the oil. Heat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of oil in a deep frying pan or work over medium-low heat. You don’t want too much oil, just enough to cover about half of the potatoes.
- Prepare the potatoes. Wash and peel the sweet potatoes, then cut them into round slices about 1/2-inch thick.
- Pan-fry the sweet potatoes. Carefully add the sliced sweet potatoes to the oil and cook until the inside is tender and the outside is cooked. This typically takes about 5-8 minutes. Once ready, carefully remove the potatoes from the oil and transfer them to a plate. We fried ours in 2 batches.
- Sprinkle the sugar in the oil. Sprinkle the brown sugar into the hot oil and wait until the sugar starts to caramelize.
- Caramelize the sweet potatoes. Transfer the sweet potatoes back to the oil and sugar mixture and toss until golden brown and well coated in the caramelized sugar.
- Transfer to a cooling rack. Remove the candied sweet potatoes from the pan using a slotted spoon and shake off any excess oil. Place the potatoes on a wire rack and let cool.
- Skewer: If you’d like to skewer your deep-fried sweet potatoes, it is best to do it as soon as it’s removed from the sugar coating. As it cools, the sweet potatoes will continue to harden and make it more difficult to skewer.
- Serve. Once cool enough to handle, dig in and enjoy!
Notes
- Kamote cue is best served fresh.
- If your caramelized sweet potatoes turn out soggy, there are a few possible reasons, but it is most likely the oil was not hot enough. If the oil is below 350F, the sweet potatoes will absorb oil as opposed to caramelizing and become soggy. To make sure the oil is between 350F and 375F, we recommend investing in a thermometer.
- Although you could technically use any colored sweet potato, white sweet potatoes are ideal for this recipe as they are sweeter and produce a better end result.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Snack
- Method: Fried
- Cuisine: Filipino
