This crunchy and toasty Sautéed Yam absorbs the flavors from soy sauce being charred in the pan. Inspired by the Japanese drama, Midnight Diner.
Have you tried Sautéed Yam before? The recipe was featured on the popular Japanese TV program called Shinya Shokudo (深夜食堂) or ’Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories‘ now available on Netflix. The show features Japanese dishes that are more representative of home-cooked recipes than Japanese Restaurant menu items in the US.
Since the drama doesn’t provide detailed ingredients and step by step instructions, I started to share these copycat recipes on my blog. Today’s recipe – sautéed yam (長芋のソテー) was featured in Season 1, Episode 8.
What type of yam is used for Sauteed Yam?
First thing first. You probably wonder what type of yam is being used in this recipe. It is not the sweet potato “yam” you might be thinking of. If you’re not sure what’s the difference between a yam and a sweet potato, this article might be helpful. So this particular yam used in this recipe is called Nagaimo (長芋) and it looks like this.
Sounds or looks familiar? You might have researched this ingredient for Okonomiyaki recipe because grated nagaimo in the Okonomiyaki batter is important for the fluffy texture. Also, if you have traveled in Japan, you might have tried Tororo Gohan (とろろご飯). That white gooey and slimy thing on top of rice, that’s also grated nagaimo.
Sauteed Yam was Surprisingly Delicious!
To be honest, I was quite surprised how delicious this simple dish was. If it wasn’t for Midnight Diner inspiring me to recreate the recipes from the show, I probably wouldn’t have come up with a dish like this using nagaimo. I used to only buy nagaimo for making Okonomiyaki and hadn’t made any other nagaimo recipes that my mom used to make for us when growing up. In short, I’m not a fan of nagaimo by itself.
So, this dish was a total surprise for me (in a good way). I want to emphasize that if you look at the ingredient list, you see only 4 ingredients. Besides nagaimo, you only use olive oil, salt, and soy sauce. I was delighted and totally awed by the deliciousness of this dish with my not-so-favorite nagaimo.
I think the key “yum” factors come from 3 parts: 1) a nice crunchiness from nagaimo, 2) burnt/charred soy sauce flavors, and 3) the right amount of saltiness that brings bland nagaimo to the next level.
I know it’s hard to convince people to enjoy nagaimo, so I pray that my photographs of this simple dish did it justice. The lighting on this day was perfect so I am really happy with the way the pictures turned out. I hope that these sauteed yam looks delicious enough for you to give it a try!
Can’t Find Nagaimo?
Lastly, if you can’t get nagaimo where you live, it’s really difficult to substitute ingredients for it. I cannot recommend using potatoes or other root vegetables as a replacement. Nagaimo cooks very quickly compared to other thick root vegetables and has a unique texture unlike anything else. 🙁
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- 2½ inch Nagaimo (2½” = 6.5 cm)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch of kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- Mizuna (Japanese mustard green) (to serve, optional)
- Gather all the ingredients.
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Peel and slice nagaimo into 1/2 inch or 1.3 cm thickness. Some of you may feel itchy by touching nagaimo. If you're not sure, wear kitchen gloves to protect your skin. Once you peel, nagaimo gets very slimy, so be careful.
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and sprinkle a pinch of kosher salt.
- Put the Nagaimo slices and saute for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. When it has nice char on the bottom, flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Add the soy sauce. Quickly lift up the frying pan and swirl the nagaimo in the frying pan so that nagaimo will be evenly coated with soy sauce. Moving around nagaimo prevents from getting burnt. It might splatter a little bit, so be careful. This creates delicious flavors.
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When the sauce gets thicken and nagaimo has nice char like this, turn off the heat and serve. Just like in the Midnight Diner episode, I serve this dish with Mizuna.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
I watch the series on netflix too^ so I made the attempt to cook 長芋のソテーfollowing your recipe. Now, I am not such a big fan of nagaimo myself…. and indeed only use it in cooking Okonomiyaki…
But boy ! This was a nice surprise 😀 the texture is just lovely and it has great flavour. Thanks so much for this recipe!
From the Netherlands with love!
Hi Suzanne! Happy to know you agree with me. Yeah nagaimo alone is rather bland and you have to eat with soy sauce or some seasonings.
I’m happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you for writing! I wish I could visit Netherlands… xo
I think we will substitute sweet potato for your root vegetable makes life easier. Soy sauce will go well with the sweetness of the potato.
Every Friday night we have date night (I make dinner). Sit & watch an episode or two Midnight Dinner. The endings make the show.
Hi Thomas! Yes, definitely sweet potato and soy sauce is a delicious combination. Too bad sweet potato will not have crisp (yet tender) texture like Nagaimo when you bite into it. But I know it’ll be delicious. If you cook thick slices, I recommend pre-cook (but it depends on sweet potato types). 🙂
I LOVE your every Friday night schedule… so sweet!!! I want to do the same when the kids are older (and maybe out of the house). 😀
Ohaiyo-Nami-San !
I LOVE grated Nagaimo, with a bit of shoyu, over rice.
It grosses most folks but… I like it.
Thus.. I’m anxious to try your recipe.
Nagaimo is readily available where I live.
Ohayo Doug-san! 🙂 You do!!! My mom loves it too… In general I love crispy and crisp texture of food, so maybe that’s why I’m not so interested in the tororo gohan. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this quick and yummy recipe!
I’m one of those weird people who loves “tororo gohan”.
Another side dish I love is Natto & Gohan.
Even my wife, who is ethnic Chinese, loves it.
I would have to credit my grandmother who regularly served these “weird” dishes.
Hahaha! You’re not weird. 🙂 I’m happy to know you eat all the food despite the look. I love Natto! Your grandma is awesome! My son and I eat natto, while Mr. JOC and my daughter don’t.
I love natto & tororo gohan too. Also love a slimy okra side dish.
Hi Nami,
I made this as soon as I saw the episode!
I loved it. I had never had this before. Nagaimo is one of my favorite Japanese vegetables.
Cheers,
Debra
Hi Debra! So happy you already got to enjoy this simple yet delicious Ippin ryori! The nice soy sauce char is so yummy on the bland nagaimo (but the texture of nagaimo is excellent!).
Hi! Can I do this to daikon? I’m allergic to yam! But love daikon.
Thanks! Faye
Hi Faye! If you slice daikon into same thickness, daikon won’t be cooked through (nagaimo cooks faster). So… either you have to cut into thinner slices or you have to blanch sliced daikon for a short time (don’t over cook). Or… you could cover non-blanched daikon slices in the frying pan and steam a bit (with or without a tiny bit of water) before you add soy sauce. Hope this helps!
Hi Nami! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. I appreciate the detailed instruction! I’ll definitely give it a try.
Faye
Hope you enjoy! xo
Yam? Yum! This looks like such a fun dish. And easy! The best kind. 🙂 Thanks!
Is “nagaimo” the same as “yamaimo”? I have used “yamaimo” in soups before and it looks the same as the picture you show for nagaimo.
Hi Nina! Nagaimo is in the Yamaimo family. Different origin (China, Japan, etc) and usually Yamaimo is labeled as this heart shape one. It’s similar, slightly different in taste, texture, and looks different.
https://amanaimages.com/info/infoRM.aspx?SearchKey=20013021493&GroupCD=0&no=60&brandrm=True&brandrf=True
One on left is Yamaimo, and one on right is Nagaimo. 🙂
Hi Nami-san
thanks for the recipe!
I’ve started watching the original series of Midnight Diner (don’t have netflix), and really enjoying it
I really like the texture of nagaimo, and have made nagaimoyaki after learning from someone in Wakayama via nagomi . Then recently I saw and tried sauteed nagaimofor the 1st time at a restaurant, now will def try at home!
Hi q! Awesome! I am so happy you’re enjoying the show. And if you like nagiamo, you will love this dish. Also I’m happy to hear that you went to Wakayama and used Nagomi Visit! YAY!!!! Thank you for writing!
Awesome! Hope to see more dishes from Midnight Diner! Tanmen ramen plz!
Hi Krys! Guess what, Mr. JOC started editing Tanmen’s video now. 🙂 You’ll love this recipe! 😉
Hi, Nami San!
You just made my day by posting this recipe. About 1,5 yrs ago I had to have most of my tongue removed due to cancer. So until I went to Japan in January of this year, it was very difficult for me to swallow food such as rice. Both my parents are Chinese so we’re familiar with the dry form of nagaimo. Some are nice and some not so much. We usually put them into soup along with goji berries. When I went to Japan in January my friend’s wife made Tororo gohan. If you notice, it was also featured in midnight diner though I cannot remember which season & episode. It was sooo good and the slimy texture actually help move the rice along in my mouth toward the back of my throat so I only need to tilt my head back a bit and I can swallow everything. I was looking forward to everything with nagaimo in it.
Sadly we cannot always get fresh nagaimo here in Indonesia. Whenever we do get it, it’s always soup time at my house. My friend’s wife isn’t the sharing type so I’m counting on you to help me with Tororo Gohan recipe.
Thanks so much
Hi Ima! I’m sorry to hear you had to have most of your tongue removed. 🙁 It must have been very difficult to eat and swallow food that you used to enjoy. Glad to hear Tororo helped! It really helps transfer food smoothly, and I didn’t think about that. The lady served a perfect food for you! I wish you can get fresh Nagaimo one day.
For Tororo recipe, grate nagaimo, loosen it with dashi (and mirin) and drizzle soy sauce. Serve with wasabi, shredded nori, green onion etc. Hope that helps!
YAM is my current obsession and I have a feeling it shall stay that way for a VERY VERY VERY long time – and I am A – OK with it! Never have I ever sauteed it, so I am going to have to give that a go!
You sold me! 😀 I sometimes do this with lotus roots, so next time I get my hands on nagaimo I’ll definitely try it.
Hi Liz! I think any vegetables or root vegetables will taste great with some flavor of charred soy sauce… so savory and delicious! I think lotus roots have similar crunch (but harder tho) like nagaimo.. it might work better than potatoes or sweet potatoes… 🙂
Where I live, many Japanese markets carry precut Nagaimo. However most of the packages, the Nagaimo is less than an inch in diameter. So by the time the skin is scrubbed, it will be even thinner. To obtain good results, what do recommend the diameter should be.? By the way I have tried Nagaimo in Okonomiyaki and I have added to nabe’s. Thank you.
Hi Steve! Interesting, the nagaimo is precut and packaged! Wait, diameter of nagaimo is less than 1 inch??? Did you mean the thickness is less than 1 inch? We are lucky to get Nagaimo. So many people wish to put it in their Okonomiyaki… 🙂
Yes, at Mitsuwa, each package is about 6-7 inches in length and it is as thick as Gobo. I have used it by grating it and putting in Okonomiyaki. But I am not sure you can saute nagaimo the size of a quarter. Or maybe you can. I have not been to Nijiya to check their nagaimo as it is on the other side of town.
I want you to know Melissa’s Produce in Downtown Los Angeles carries many interesting items. I bought fresh Myoga Ginger, fresh Red Perilla Leaves (Shiso), fresh Sudachi Citrus, and fresh Yuzu. They are not cheap, but at least they carry many Japanese vegetables and fruits. I used these items to make homemade ponzu sauce. This latest batch was by far the best I have ever prepared ponzu sauce. The website is http://www.melissas.com. Check it out. Personally, I was tickled to get fresh yuzu and sudachi.
Hi Steve! Interesting and at the same time I couldn’t believe it… Really thin like gobo! I’m quite shocked actually… Nijiya’s nagaimio is just like the picture I showed in the post. at least 2 inch in diameter.
I’ve never been to Melissa’s Produce. They carry Myoga! That’s awesome! We sometimes get it in Nijiya in the Bay Area too. But it’s so cool to see unique Japanese ingredients in non-Japanese grocer! Thanks so much for the information. I’ll refer to LA JOC readers to this store for Yuzu as I get so many questions about where to get Yuzu… Thank you Steve!
I went to another Mitsuwa (West LA) and they had thick nagaimo (~3 1/2 inches). I bought two packages, each about 7 inches in length and will prepare them according to your recipe here!
Cool! Hope you enjoy this recipe, Steve! 🙂
I finally had the chance to make the sauteed yams today. I made BBQ T-bone steak, sauteed yams, steamed baby French carrots, easy garden salad, and poaches pears in red wine.
I rinsed the nagaino thoroughly (to remove roots, but not scrapping them), sliced them to about 1/2 inch thickness and sauteed them in a cast iron pan while BBQ’ing. Everyone in family enjoyed this dinner.
Once again, another lovely recipe that is easy to make yet so delicious.
THANK YOU Nami for allowing me to use many of you recipes.
Hi Steve! Your meal is always so fancy! I’m jealous of your family who get to enjoy your cooking! Thank you for reading my blog – without my readers, I would not be as inspired. 🙂
I have never been a big fan of sweet potato or yam but this looks interesting. Not sure if I will ever pick up the courage to make it, though the review from other commenters that this is delicious are reassuring. Thank you so much for this recipe, I always love to see more of the recreated recipes from Shinya Shokudo.
A tip for coughs that works for me is to eat preserved Chinese orange peel (not candied ones). I don’t really like the taste of the peel so I tend to just suck on it, and that works well enough. My Filipino friend swears by Lady’s finger “soup” – basically boiling okra and water and drinking the liquid.
Hope you feel better soon, Nami!
Hi A J! I wish I can cook for you! Sometimes, you just have to eat what someone made for you (so you have no choice but to eat hahaha).
Thank you for your tip for coughs. I have Chinese orange peel in my pantry. I’m going to check it out when I go downstairs… so basically just suck on it right? Easy enough. Lady’s finger soup… never heard of it. Going to google now. Thanks so much for writing!
Hi Nami, its funny you should say that because growing up that was the rule that my mother set – eat whatever that is cooked, or go to bed hungry. Ok not really because there is always bread and biscuits :). It seems that as I grow older, I tend to cook and eat food/ingredients that I am familiar with and be less willing to try new things. I need to be more adventurous!
Actually you are supposed to eat the orange peel. I don’t like the taste of it, so I just suck on the peel until it doesn’t have much taste before I spit it out. It works for me that way too though 😉
Glad to read that you are feeling a bit better now. ♥
Hi A J! My mom did similar too, and I had to eat at least one or two bites of everything. I still remember sitting at the table and couldn’t make myself bite deep fried oyster (panko coated) or “Kaki Fry” and sit there for hours. I just couldn’t put that in my mouth as I do not like oysters (even now). Such a traumatic experience I still remember.
Yeah, as we get older and can cook and eat whatever we want to eat (no mom in the house), I take easy route too… but thanks to JOC I sometimes have to try new things. Like this recipe. Without Midnight Diner drama, I probably never sautee Nagaimo and discover this delicious recipe. 🙂
Oh! The smell is so strong… I could only suck… I’ll try eat it then…. wish me luck. xD
I love Midnight Diner and I love Nagaimo! I have eaten it both savory and sweet. The closest root vegetable in America would be a sweet potato or our yam, but it would not be exactly the same.
Hi Rachel! The crunch is sort of similar to lotus root as potatoes/sweet potatoes/yam get too soft/mushy as it cooks longer time, and no “crunch” texture. Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Made this last night and it was delicious…Even my picky eater husband loved it..Wow!
Hi Lyn! Wow so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. So happy to hear you tried this recipe! xo
Absolutely delicious! I got a chance to try this when I found some nagaimo at the oriental grocery. Quick and easy to make, this could easily be my new favorite dish.
Though I did not expect raw nagaimo to be so slimy once I started cutting into it.
Hi Danica! I’m so happy to hear you got to try this recipe! It’s surprisingly delicious, isn’t it? 🙂 I’ll make a note in the recipe about sliminess. I think I mentioned about it in other nagaimo recipes but forgot in this one. Thanks for pointing it out.
I really enjoyed this recipe. My parents give us Naigamo every summer that we use in soups, but we always have excess. This recipe gave us a delicious and novel way of making Naigamo. I will be using it again.
Hi Grace! Thank you so much for trying out my recipes! Yeah we never used up entire nagaimo for dishes (I usually use some for Okonomiyaki and it was hard to think of a way to use the rest). However, thanks to Midnight Diner recipe, I’ve been making this as a side dish! It’s so perfect! Thank you for trying my recipes!
In my part of the woods nagaimo is literally unknown, therefore, I will have to Google it 🙂
Hi Audrius! Hope you can find it! 🙂
I have been addicted to this lately! I was so excited the other week at my Asian supermarket because thanks to you I was not only able to recognise nagaimo when I saw it but I also immediately knew what to do with it! Haha. It’s true that they have a unique texture. I was a bit naughty and added a little butter to the pan just as they were finishing off – so delicious! Should there still be some crunch in them though or cooked all the way through? I’ve tried both ways but wasn’t sure which was the ‘ideal’ manner of serving. Many thanks.
Hi JJ! Hahaha! I’m very proud of you! 😀 It should have crunch in them, as you can eat it raw too. I like a bit crunchy. Soy sauce and butter is awesome combination and we have a lot of soy butter flavor in our dishes. So you did the good thing to Nagaimo. 🙂 Glad to hear you enjoy this dish!
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve only had grated yamaimo before, so I was surprised at how hearty and delicious this tasted sautéed. Honestly, this is high on my list of favorite vegetable dishes. The only difficulty I had was, I used a cast iron pan so the slices stuck to the pan if I didn’t keep them constantly moving.
.
Hi Jay! So happy to hear you liked the recipe! Yeah cast iron might stick, unless you put more oil. Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
This was delicious! I too had leftover nagaimo from okonomiyaki– I was trying to figure out a use for this, and this recipe was the ticket! Once cooked, the texture is perfect and the
Simple salt/char/shoyu flavor was beyond delicious. This recipe is 10/10. I now know how I will use my leftover nagaimo (after okonomiyaki night)!!
Hi Keri! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this dish. Yes, we don’t have to worry about the leftover Nagaimo anymore with this dish. 🙂 So easy, right? I love the texture too. Thank you for your generous score. =)
Hi, thanks for these nice recipe 🙂 Can we eat it also cold, for example in Bento? I like it to eat Yams 🙂
HI Katrin! I’d definitely include it in bento. However, it won’t be tasty as it is like right after you cook. It stays crunchy and tender though.
I followed your receipe closely and find it too salty for my liking. So i added fresh basil and parika powder to cover the saltimess. Much better to my liking. Still cruncy. Very special receipe. 🙂
Hi Iris! Thanks for trying this recipe! It should be just a drizzle of soy sauce. Next time try reducing soy sauce more. 🙂 Thank you for trying this recipe!
Anyone have any advice for making sure they don’t stick? I did them in a stainless steel sautee pan and couldn’t get them to flip without tearing the bottoms off, even after deglazing. Is there anything to be done aside from using a non-stick pan?
Hi Ian! Oh no, sorry to hear that. You might know already, but just in case you didn’t, to use a stainless steel saute pan, you have to make sure the frying pan is nice and hot before food is added, and plenty of oil is necessary so the food doesn’t stick. Some protein like chicken or scallope etc releases itself once the bottom is cooked (easy to flip), but nagaimo is sticky…. so I’m not too sure if you can flip even after the bottom is brown. You just need generous amount of oil that nagaimo will move around without sticking (almost like shallow fry).
Hi Nami,
Thanks for recommending Midnight Dinner, love every bit of the series. Hope there is more to come.
I love the recipe you have posted about this sauteed yam recipe. Love Love Love it. So delicious
I have made it twice. Each time my arm will break out in rashes and it itched really, had to shower immediately. I wore gloves both times.
Wondering if you have heard of any nagaimo allergies while peeling it? I can peel taro no issues, I know some people have similar reaction when peeling taro.
I would hate to give up this dish as I can’t even find it in any Japanese restaurants in Chicago.
Any suggestions?
Hi Sandrine! I’m happy to hear you like the drama too. I also hope that they will share 2 more seasons… I think this drama does well and it’s too sad if they don’t continue with another season.
In Japan there is nagaimo/yamaimo allergy too. I googled to check and found out that there are not too many people with this allergy, so it’s not necessary for the company to put a allergy level on products etc (yet).
The doctors recommend wearing gloves (but have to be careful when grinding as it gets slippery) and washing in hot water when you get itchy.
Hi Nami! I binge watched the first season of Midnight Diner just recently! Thank you for introducing the series! I just made the Sautéed Nagaimo and we love it! My apologies as I forgot to take a picture before it was inhaled! So easy and, yet, so good! Thank you!
Hi Pat! Wonderful! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed both the drama and this dish! I’m so glad that I have one recipe that’s easy to make with nagaimo after I buy it for making Okonomiyaki. No more waste. Just sautee! 🙂
Excellent!! Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words, Alexandra! 🙂
I like very much to eat Nagano but this is the first time I have tried this recipe and it is very good I enjoy cooking Japanese food I find it very healthy using little or no oil while cooking thank you Nami I try to follow your recipes
Hi Allen! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying it and for your kind feedback. 🙂 xo
This recipe is AMAZING. Love the show. Rewatched this episode while eating the yam! Simple recipe but the flavor is stunning. I wore gloves to peel the yams. Thank you so much!
Hi Alexandra! Hahaha, that’s actually a great idea! I should make this midnight dinner dish to watch the same episode so we won’t be hungry! LOL. Thanks so much for your kind feedback. xo
I am going to make this this week! I can’t get mizuna where I live (though I am growing some for later in the summer) so I had to look up substitutes, because for me, eating the warm yams with some crisp greens sounds like a great pairing. I saw a website that recommended tatsoi or arugula and I think these are both very good suggestions that both pair well with Asian flavors with their mildly spicy flavor. I’ve used arugula in hot pot and ramen before and it was delicious.
Hi Lion! Hope you enjoy! Yeah arugula may work for the texture if the flavor is not too strong for you (mizuna is more subtle). I used mizuna and tried to resemble the dish from “Midnight Diner”. 🙂
When ever I make this, the pealing of the yam causes intense itching where ever the slime/peal touches my hands/arm. I love the taste of these but don’t buy it often because of the itching.
Hi Sarah! You can use gloves to prepare it. I do it quickly and rinse my hands right away and I never had any issue. However, a lot of people can touch peppers with bare hands, but I have to wear gloves… I guess everyone is different how much allergic reaction you get with some ingredients… Be careful. 🙂
I used half tamari, half sesaoned rice vinegar, and served with tofu, soba noodles and lots of chili garlic sauce. It was great!
Hi Mims! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Nami san,
Would you recommend serving this side dish with spinach side dish & a daikon aburaage miso soup?
Would it last a couple of days in the fridge?
Hi Ima! This tastes the best after sauteeing/cooking. But you can save for maybe up to 2 days? Do you serve this as a main dish? Then I’d serve with miso soup and a spinach side dish (both). 🙂
Omg I just made this and it is a-MAY-zing- will definitely do again
Hi Liz! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
I used the white ‘korean yam’ instead of nagaimo( hard to find especially during corona). I washed and soaked in water after slicing into 1/2 inch pieces, dried off, and then tossed them with potato starch. Then the same as here just longer fry time, almost double, finish with soy sauce. not sure how it compares to nagaimo but i got the outside to be crunchy and inside soft 🙂 it was good.
Hi Jerri! I had never tried Korean Yam but I’m curious! If I see it in the store next time I go shopping (after the current situation), I’ll check it out! 🙂