1 Rotato, 2 Rotato, 3 Rotato, 4

Mijune offering me a bite of her Rotato at the Richmond Night Market. Photo by David Lansing.

I’ve told you that Mijune can eat like she’s a contestant in one of those hot dog chow downs. Last night we went to the Richmond Night Market where there are something like 88 vendors. I was afraid she was going to make me try all of them.

Within minutes she was dragging me over to this vendor called Rotato. “I love these things,” she said, getting in line. “What flavor should we get?”

They had bbq, sour cream & onion, salt & vinegar, roasted garlic & pepper, cheddar cheese, ketchup. Here’s the thing: there were at least 20 people in line ahead of us. And every five minutes, as we edged up a little bit closer to the front, Mijune changed her mind about what flavor she wanted. First it was the cheddar cheese, then the bbq, then the sour cream & onion.

I knew what was going to happen. Mijune ordered all three. “Mijune,” I said, “I’m not even sure I want any. It’s just a potato.”

“It’s not just a potato,” she said, offended. “It’s fabulous.”

Here’s how they make a Rotato: First a woman winds a machine to cut the potatoes into these swirly shapes. Then a guy skewers the potato, fans it out, dips it in a watery batter, and deep fries it. Then a young girl takes the fried swirly potato and puts the seasoning on it. For such a simple concoction, it’s quite a production. No wonder it was taking so long to serve everyone.

So we’re standing at the side and the young woman brings out one Rotato…and then another…and then a third. I held two of them while Mijune sampled.

“The sour cream and onion!” she proclaimed. “That’s the one. Try it”

So I did. And it was pretty damn good.