The rise of the tornado potato

As I wrote in a review of a shop in Kawagoe earlier today, Tornado Potatoes (also called Hurricane Potatoes) are all the rage in central and Western Saitama again recently. I think they started to boom the year before the pandemic, then we didn't see them for a while, and now they seem to be everywhere again. 

Apart from being able to pick them up at various eateries in Kawagoe, I've seen food trucks specialize in them at every festival and fireworks display I've been to this year. So I just had to try them! Unfortunately, the ones I tried at the Konosu Fireworks were absolutely awful. But when I saw the long type, pictured above, at the Sky Lantern Festival this past weekend, I was willing to give them another go. And I was so glad I did, because these ones were delicious. They were almost like a potato chip, they were so crisp and crunchy.

Are they a thing where you live? Have you tried them?