November 19, 2006

Yaki Imo Truck


Little Brother came running inside saying, " The yaki imo truck is here!" This is the yaki imo truck in our neighborhood. I took this picture yesterday. The driver said it was okay to take pictures of his truck. He didn't want his picture taken. He slowly drives around the neighborhood with a tape echoing "Ya---ki--mo!" It's a nice sound of fall.




What are yaki imo? Roasted sweet potatoes. The imo (potato) were at the top on the left. He lifts the boards to put potatoes in and to take them out. I didn't get a picture of the inside. I may get one and post it later if I can chase him down. He usually doesn't stop and sit.



This is what I really wanted to get a picture of. I think it's funny (and dangerous) that he drives around with a fire on the back of his truck. I remember sitting behind the fire of a yaki imo truck at a red light.



I bought two roasted sweet potatoes from him. He gave me one for free. This is a bag of three. The peeling is sometimes blackened or charred.


The sizes of these sweet potatoes or satsuma imo vary. Some are big, some are small. The inside is yellow. We sometimes eat the peel if it isn't charred.

Yaki imo
are really good. They are nice to eat any time but today was a perfect day for them. It was rainy and cold. He didn't come by, though.

2 comments:

Ruth said...

Thanks for this! My husband has often talked about the yaki imo truck. It's a fond memory from his childhood.

Do they still come around collecting paper to be recycled and give you toilet paper in exchange? That's another thing he talks about.

Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu said...

Thanks Ruth for your comment. Yes, they do come around for newspapers. Baba uses that service. We share a newspaper with her and Aunt downstairs. They pack them and set them outside. I'll try to get a picture of it.
Annie