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Hoser · Joined: 19 Mar 2005 Posts: 694 Location: Toronto, Canada

Hey guys. I just tried yakiimo for the first time since arriving in Japan four and a half years ago (I know, I know..) and I'd like to take a few sweet potatoes home with me for Christmas so I can make my own yakiimo with my family. Would that be a total no-go with Canadian customs?

bre_anna · Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 7:09 am Post subject:

Can't you just make it with sweet potatos from a Canadian grocery store?

Hoser · Joined: 19 Mar 2005 Posts: 694 Location: Toronto, Canada

I don't know-I've never bought sweet potato in Canada before! Is it the same?

bre_anna · Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 2:49 am Post subject:

I would asume so. If it wasn't the same wouldn't it be called something else?

Imseriouslylost · Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Posts: 123 Location: Tokyo

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Canadian customs will have a website which tells you what you can and can't take in, I feel sure.

If you have sweet potatoes in Canada, then chances are they are pretty similar to the ones here- potatoes are potatoes, pretty much, aren't they? The ones we have in New Zealand are virtually identical to Japanese ones.

seklarwia · Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:51 am Post subject:

Bringing in fresh meat, fish, plants and fruit/veg pretty much always causes problems at customs where ever you are heading. These types of products are always best left out of your luggage.

Sweet potatoes are originally from South America, but are now consumed worldwide. UK health food shops often stock sweet potato snacks as a healthier alternative to crisps and it one of the carb-rich foods that dieters and health freaks tend to swear by. So many people eat them that you can find them in any decent sized supermarket all year round.

I've yet to visit a country where I couldn't eat them and in the US they are quite popular, too. So I'd be surprised if you were unable to find them in Canada.

Why don't you send a pic to someone back home and ask them if they have seen them in the any of the local supermarkets.

Lyrajean · Joined: 19 Jul 2006 Posts: 109 Location: going to Okinawa

The ones they have in Okinawa (I think its the beni-imo) are different (and purple). They're are big signs in the airport saying all kinds of trouble will happen if you try to export them even to the mainland.

I'm serious...

misteradventure · Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Posts: 246

I'd ask back home if you could get them at the shoppes. Otherwise, you'd probably be smuggling as there are all kinds of exotic diseases you can get from foods bought in supermarkets overseas that have been contaminated with Heavens knows how many deadly pesticides and fungicides.

Yep, you'd prolly be a smuggler for sure.

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

wintersweet · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 3:32 am Post subject:

Japanese sweet potatoes that are light yellow inside are NOT the same as the orange-fleshed ones that are common in most of North America. They have a different texture and a different kind of sweetness. I personally have no idea which ones are common in Canada. However, if you're going to a part of Canada that has Chinese grocery stores, I expect you would be able to get Japanese sweet potatoes there. Maybe get a friend to check.

Just because something is called the same thing doesn't mean it is the same thing. (Cf. "ume"/"plum" ... etc.) Confused