Mattang is a delicious, easy to make sweet that’s chunks of sweet potato coated in translucent hot brown syrup. They are super crunchy on the outside and warm and fluffy on the inside.
It’s so simple and easy to make but freshly made mattang is really irresistible, with an amazing, loud crispy crunch but then so soft inside! When I was a kid me and my friends used to eat these all the time. After school we would stop by a snack bar and order mattang, tteokbokki, and fish cake soup. These three things went perfectly together because the tteokbokki was spicy so the fish cake soup was a nice counterbalance, and then the mattang was something sweet to top it all off. We would order these three things and keep cycling through bites of each until they were all gone and it was time to go home. We’d all pay an equal amount and then go home and have dinner! We always had room for delicious food!
I’ve been making this recipe for years and years. After I got married I made it for my own children, they just loved it. I originally posted a video for it in 2010, and it was time for a remake. I rewrote and tweaked the recipe and don’t worry, the original video from any of my remade recipes is always in the sidebar. All my videos are like my babies, never far from me!
Enjoy the recipe! I hope you make it for your friends and family for years to come!
Ingredients
Serves 3 to 4
- 1 pound peeled and washed Korean sweet potato, roll cut into ½ to 1 inch thick pieces
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- cooking oil (vegetable, grape seeds, or corn oil) for making syrup and frying
- 1 teaspoon toasted black sesame seeds (optional)
Directions
First fry for the sweet potato:
- Heat 1½ inch cooking oil in a large pan over medium high heat until the temperature reaches about 340ºF. (I used 6 cups cooking oil in my 12 inch pan and heated it up for 12 minutes over medium-high)
- Gently add the sweet potato pieces to the hot oil. Fry them for about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden or slotted spoon, until light golden brown.
- Use tongs or slotted spoon to take out the sweet potato pieces and put them into a stainless steel strainer over a bowl so they can drain. Turn off the heat and let them sit until the syrup is ready.
Make syrup:
- Add about 2 tablespoons cooking oil to a skillet. Swirl it around to evenly coat.
- Sprinkle sugar evenly over the oil.
- Heat up the skillet over medium heat. When the sugar starts melting after about 5 minutes, reduce the heat to medium low.
- Grab the handle of the skillet, lift it up and move it around so the sugar evenly melts in the oil. Don’t stir it, or it will crystalize. Keep moving and shifting the pan for another 2 to 3 minutes until all the sugar melts into to brownish syrup. Turn off the heat.
2nd fry for the sweet potato:
- Reheat the oil for about 2 to 3 minutes until it reaches 340ºF. Add the fried sweet potato pieces and fry them for 1 to 2 minutes until crunchy and golden brown.
- Use tongs or slotted spoon to take out the sweet potato pieces and put them into a stainless steel strainer over a bowl so they can drain. Turn off the heat.
Finish and serve:
- Reheat the syrup. Add the sweet potato and mix with a wooden spoon until they are totally covered in the syrup. Sprinkle the black sesame seeds over top.
- Remove from the heat and transfer the sweet potato to a large baking sheet lined with a parchment paper.
- Leave a gap between each piece so that they don’t stick together. Let them cool down.
- When the syrup hardens, transfer the mattang to a serving bowl and serve.
I could barely stop myself from eating them all before I took a picture! This recipe is so easy and delicious, I can’t wait to make it for friends.
Everyone: cooking sugar can be tough, but just go slow, be patient, and don’t touch it!!
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First time making matang – and I used a wok (for the caramel sauce as well). You weren’t kidding when you said don’t touch the sauce!!! When I went to stir the goguma into the sauce, it instantly crystallized and I ended up scraping the wooden spatula with steel to get all the hard sugar off it (haha!). :-)
Awesome meal! You’re the best!!!
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All look awesome. Especially I love the paper-thin cut cucumber on the plate for tofu dish! : )
Super easy and Superb delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
That’s great! Wonderful! Your comment motivates me to make matang soon! I haven’t made it for a long time.
I just found your website and already super excited to make everything! My mom(korean)is an extremely good cook but an awful teacher, lol. Thank you for your recipes.
I would love to take these to a party for my husbands family, at their house.
Is there anyway to partially cook or prepare these ahead of time so that I can make them fast. I would like them to try it fresh and burn there tongue too;) it’s the best way to eat them hot!
“I would love to take these to a party for my husbands family…” What a great idea! You can make this 5 to 7 hours in advance before serving. Keep it at room temperature.
Dear Maangchi,
This is my 3rd attempt. Sadly, the sauce is still turning out wrong. Could it be that I’m using the Splenda instead of regular sugar? It comes out too watery or in burnt chunks.
I came to the U.S. when I was finished with 1st grade. Therefore, the few things I remember well about Korea are the foods. My girls had just made the Ppopgi and Hotteok during their snow days. (Thank you, by the way, for the recipes.)
yes, you need to use sugar.
I love your channel so much <3 lol you can say that I'm addicted to it . I've tried to make a lot of your recipes but I only succeed in making 볶음밥 and 양념통닭 …. and today I will try 마탕 :) it look so yummy!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe Maangchi!! I really enjoyed making it! – The only problem was that the sauce started to burn so it wasn’t as sweet, but it was still good! I’ll make it again and next time be sure to watch the sauce! :)
yeah, so you will have to cook the sauce really low heat. “next time be sure to watch the sauce! :)” great!
I guess that’s what I forgot to do :) – Thanks!
i like eating this snack with milk
oh my you created your id as maangchisyummyfood? lol,
thanks for the recipe!
I am eating right know! It is so good! it turned out!
Hi Maangchi! :)
When making the sweet potato fries, do you ever season them with anything or just leave them ‘plain’? I plan on making them as a side dish tomorrow, but my little brother might need some seasoning to try them because he doesn’t like sweet potatoes. My mom wants him to eat his sweet potatoes but he never does! Hoping he’ll like them better as crunchy fries :)
“my little brother might need some seasoning to try them because he doesn’t like sweet potatoes..” oh I see what you mean. Yes, it’s up to you. You can add his favorite seasonings to this. Why not?
I love sweet potato because I used to eat this for substitute to rice. It is healthy and I feel full when I eat sweet potato. I know how to make this recipe it’s simple and very good appetizer or dessert. Is it okay to use vegetable oil or olive oil for more healthy recipe, since I am on a diet??
I would use vegetable oil. Good luck with your Korean cooking!
Hey Maangchi, I just made these for me and my friend Mirei but the sugar coating didn’t harden on the sweet potato, i don’t understand what went wrong,
the fries also came out kind of floppy instead of crunchy, i don’t normally fry things so i’m sure i did something wrong, i’ll try again though and do my best to make them into crunchy perfection.
p.s. i love your recipes and korean food, thank you for showing us hoe to make them. :) Gamsahamnidad!
answers!
“the sugar coating didn’t harden..” cook the coating syrup longer
“the fries also came out kind of floppy instead of crunchy” cook them longer until crunchy
Maybe your stove is not as strong as mine. Everybody’s stove has different heat, so you will need to adjust for that.
Let me know the result if you make this again!
Happy cooking!
maangchi hi,
I like potatoes however your cooking concept using oil and sugar was a great idea thanks…!
Hi Maangchi!
I found this website over the summer, and I’ve had fun trying out the different recipes. I just made the matang (the last couple are cooling off now), and I just want to say that they’re delicious! They don’t look quite as good as yours (and I couldn’t use Korean sweet potato because shopping here is horrible), but even with a “normal” sweet potato I fell in love. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Great news!
Cheers!
Hi Maangchi :)
Will the Matang still taste good when its cold?
Yes, it will still be crunchy when it cools down.
Ah…. mine didn’t turn out that beautifully… I think I used too small of a pan for the syrup. It tastes pretty good, though. Also, the timing is pretty hard to nail but I’m pretty excited about making it again. Thanks for the recipe!!!!
great!
Hi Maangchi,
What a coincidence! Weeks ago I went to eat at this Korean buffet restaurant in Sydney and they did serve matang:) all my friends who came with me to the buffet like them and I’ve been thinking to make them but don’t have the recipe. Thank God you have this recipe.
You are the best! I will try to make them then.
I indeed love korean food eventhough I am not a korean.
Thank you!!!
Great! Let me know how your matang turns out! Upload the photo on my website it you can. https://www.maangchi.com/photos/upload
Hello Maangchi,
My matang did not turn out as it should be. The sweet coating did not cover the whole piece. Tried it twice and they turned out the same eventhough for the 2nd time I added the sugar quantity. I will send you the picture regardless. Anyway my daughter loves them and the taste was actually all right. I am not sure on where I did wrong. But I will definitely try again.
Thanks Maangchi!!
Yes, I saw the photo you sent me. It looks good to me!
Follow the recipe closely and make it again. You will have to coat it when the syrup is hot, Otherwise, the fried sweet potato won’t be coated evenly. Don’t add more oil or sugar. I follow my own recipe when I make it. : )
Let me know.
Hey Maangchi,
this recipe is really interesting. Just want to ask if i might put the sweet potato chunks into the oven instead of frying them?
Or just stirfry them in a little amount of oil?
Greetings from Bonn (Germany),
Cornelia
It will still be delicious but don’t expect it to be crunchy.
Love it love it love it..!!
i love sweet potato at all !
yesterday night my mom made steamed sweet potatoes for night snacks,
actually i wanted to make ur crunchy sweet potato but my sister wanted it to be steamed T.T
so, today i’m going to make the sweet cruchy one without any interruption.. :D
Hi maangchi!
I just tried to make this today…everything was going well until I tried to coat the potato chunks in the melted sugar!
Everything started sticking together and wouldn’t coat properly ):
What did I do wrong?
oh my! You must have felt very frustrated! What a coincidence! I made it last night with usual sweet potatoes. It turned out ok but not as good as matang made with Korean sweet potatoes. The coating sauce made it crunchy though.
The coating syrup cools down very quickly and gets hard, so you will have to follow the direction very tightly.
“Transfer the potato to the parchment sheet. Leave a gap between each potato piece so that they don’t stick to each other.”
You don’t have to use parchment paper. Put some vegetable oil on a large baking pan and place the chunks of finished coated sweet potatoes.
In about 2.5 months I will return to America after living in Korea for just 2 years. I am so so sad to leave all the delicious food behind, like goguma matang! BUT because of you I can make them at home and remember all my wonderful Korean experiences^^
Looks delicious, Maangchi! And thank you for the tip about how to see if the oil is ready for frying (those bubbles!).
It’s the same as the Japanese Daigakuimo. Only I like this one better because it’s crunchy :)
Mmmm, Maangchi! I remember matang so well. It’s delicious. My family will love it!
I’m in Toronto now and staying in my Korean friend’s house. Last night I made matang for her family. It came out wonderful. My friend was so happy to learn how to make the coating syrup. yum!
i remember watching this chinese restaurant make this as desserts when i was a kid and i specifically remember them dipping the coated pieces in ice cold water. does maangchi or anybody else know about this?
These look delicious, Maangchi! In case you are interested, “ppotetto” is the Japanese name for french fries and it IS basically them saying “potato” with their own accent, haha. The Japanese also make matang and call if “daigakuimo”, which means something like “college potato”. Not sure why, though!
humm looks so delicious, especially the Crunchy sweet potato fries. I had them alway when we’re traving trough Korea. I hope you had a nice time
Mmmm….yum. I will definitely have to make these this week. Thanks for the recipe, Ms. Kim!
Maangchi ;)