Camote cue is the sweet-potato counterpart to banana cue, a Filipino afternoon snack of camote slices deep-fried with brown sugar until coated in caramel. Thick rounds or wedges of sweet potato are fried in oil, then dusted with sugar that melts and crusts over them, and the pieces are speared onto bamboo. Sold from the same merienda carts as banana cue, it is earthy, sweet, and chewy with a brittle sugar shell. The name borrows cue from barbecue, for the skewer.
Camote cue is built on the camote, the sweet potato that has long been a cheap, filling staple across the Philippines, especially in lean times. It belongs to the cue family of skewered, brown-sugar-fried street snacks alongside banana cue, sold from afternoon merienda carts. The two are near-identical in method, differing only in the starch fried. Its precise origin is undocumented, but it sits squarely in the islands' everyday street-snack tradition.
The sugar shell cracks to a hot, dense interior that is starchy and sweet, with the natural earthiness of camote behind the caramel. It is firmer and less melting than banana cue, holding a satisfying chew, and the brown sugar adds a faint molasses edge and a touch of caramel bitterness. Best eaten hot, when the glaze is still crisp and the inside is soft.
Brown sugar is added to the hot frying oil, where it melts and caramelizes around the sweet-potato pieces, then hardens into a thin shell as it cools. Cutting the camote into uniform thick slices lets the dense flesh cook through to soft before the outside burns; some cooks parboil briefly first to shorten the fry. Sweet potato holds its shape well in oil, and its own sugars deepen the browning. Pulling it at the right moment — amber, not black — is the whole skill.
Variations
Banana cue is the saba-banana version made the same way. Some cooks coat the camote more heavily in sugar for a thicker crust, and a sprinkle of sesame is sometimes added. Sweet-potato fritters and candied camote are related but distinct sweets.
On the Palate
Where Camote Cue sits in the Filipino flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 14 min
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into thick, even rounds or wedges
- 23 min
Heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat
- 36 min
Fry the sweet-potato pieces until tender and lightly golden
- 44 min
Add brown sugar to the oil and let it melt and caramelize over the pieces
Watch outAdd the brown sugar to the oil and let it melt and caramelize around the pieces — this is where the crisp shell forms, so keep the pieces turning so it coats evenly.
- 54 min
Turn the pieces so the caramel coats them evenly and deepens to amber
Watch outPull it at amber, not black — sweet potato's own sugars deepen the browning fast, and a few seconds too long tips the caramel from nutty to burnt-bitter.
- 62 min
Lift out and let the sugar shell set briefly
- 73 min
Spear two or three pieces onto each bamboo skewer
- 81 min
Serve hot while the glaze is still crisp
