Sauteed Yam 長芋のソテー – ‘Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories’

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.

Nagaimo – A Type of Yum

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.

Why You Should Try This Recipe

To be honest, I was quite surprised at 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 four 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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Sauteed Yam

4.68 from 43 votes

This crunchy and toasty Sautéed Yam absorbs the flavors from soy sauce being charred in the pan. Inspired by the Japanese drama Midnight Diner.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 15 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2½ inches nagaimo/yamaimo (mountain yam)
• ▢ 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• ▢ 2 tsp soy sauce
• ▢ mizuna (Japanese mustard green) (for serving; optional)

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Instructions

 

• Gather all the ingredients.
  
• Peel and slice 2½ inches nagaimo/yamaimo (mountain yam) ½ inch (1.3 cm) thick. 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 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan and sprinkle ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
  
• Put the nagaimo slices in the pan and sauté for 3–4 minutes on medium heat. When it has a nice char on the bottom, flip and cook for another 3–4 minutes.
  
• Add 2 tsp soy sauce. Quickly lift up the frying pan and swirl the nagaimo in the frying pan so that the nagaimo will be evenly coated with soy sauce. Moving around the nagaimo prevents it from getting burnt. It might splatter a little bit, so be careful. This creates delicious flavors.
  
• When the sauce gets thicken and the nagaimo has a nice char, turn off the heat and serve. Just like in the Midnight Diner episode, I serve this dish with mizuna (Japanese mustard green).
  

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Sauteed Yam

Amount per Serving

Calories

132

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

7

g

11

%

Saturated Fat

 

1

g

6

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

5

g

Sodium

 

393

mg

17

%

Potassium

 

430

mg

12

%

Carbohydrates

 

15

g

5

%

Fiber

 

1

g

4

%

Protein

 

3

g

6

%

Vitamin C

 

6

mg

7

%

Calcium

 

17

mg

2

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Author: Nami

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: nagaimo

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