purple potatoes

I was at the Vietnamese market (which is a LOONNNGGG walk off of a metro station) and saw a sign that said "purple potatoes, $2.99 per pound" (in Vietnamese).

Purple potatoes? The first and only time I had any purple potatoes were the mashed purple potatoes served at the Hawaiian Luau at the Polynesian Center. At the time, I just thought they added purple food coloring to make the mashed potatoes interesting. But then my friend told me that there really was such a thing as a purple potato and they're known to known in Hawaii.

So I bought myself three purple potatoes, grand total of $0.95. I really didn't know how to cook it so I just boiled it until I could poke a knife through it.
And here's a purple potato! I need some protein for dinner too, so I just ate my purple tators with chicken dumplings. Yes, weird combination. That is why I was having dinner with myself.
Anyway, I don't know if it was because I just boiled the purple potatoes and ate them with nothing else on it, but these tasted a lot different from what I remembered from Hawaii. The purple mashed potatoes in Hawaii tasted just like regular mashed potatoes, which was why I thought food coloring was just added.

These boiled purple potatoes, however, tasted sweet. It was a little like eating a taro, but not. And it wasn't quite sweet like a sweet potato. It was just sweet and it was good. So I ate all three potatoes in one sitting. I think boiled purple potatoes would make a good snack. I'll have to stock up the next time I make the trek out to the Vietnamese mall.