Japanese Imo-Ni: Taro Hot Pot and Autumn Mountain Festival Culture

Ingredients

• 800 g satoimo (Japanese taro), pre-peeled
• 300 g beef, thinly sliced, Yamagata-style; substitute pork for Miyagi-style
• 150 g gobo (burdock root), peeled, sliced on the diagonal, soaked immediately in cold water
• 150 g konnyaku, torn or cut into irregular pieces
• 2 negi (Japanese long onion), cut into 4 cm lengths
• For the broth
• 1 litre dashi or water
• 80 ml soy sauce
• 60 ml mirin
• For Miyagi-style only
• 3 tbsp miso, dissolved in a ladleful of hot broth before adding; do not boil after addition

Method

1. 1
   Place the peeled satoimo in a saucepan of plain cold water. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water, rubbing the surface to remove any remaining mucilaginous residue. The satoimo surface should feel clean and no longer slippery to the touch.
2. 2
   Slice the gobo on the diagonal into 3–4 mm pieces. Transfer immediately to a bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Drain before use. The soaking water should be visibly discoloured; this is the oxidised phenolics that would otherwise create uncorrectable bitterness in the finished dish.
3. 3
   Heat a donabe or heavy nabe pot over medium-high heat. Add the sliced beef and sear, turning once, until the fat begins to render and the surfaces are lightly coloured. The fat should be fragrant and the meat no longer raw on the exterior.
4. 4
   Add the dashi or water, soy sauce, and mirin to the pot with the seared beef. Bring to a gentle simmer. Add the drained gobo and the konnyaku. Simmer for 10 minutes — the broth should be clear, lightly amber, and carry the first sweetness of the soy-mirin base. Skim any foam that rises.
5. 5
   Add the pre-boiled satoimo. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: the taro must cook until just tender with a slight interior resistance — press a piece between finger and thumb; it should yield without collapsing. Over-boiling at this stage causes the taro to disintegrate and the broth to turn starchy and heavy. Check every 3–4 minutes from the 10-minute mark.
6. 6
   Add the negi in the final 5 minutes of cooking. For Miyagi-style: dissolve the miso in a ladleful of hot broth drawn from the pot, stir the dissolved miso back into the pot, and do not return the pot to a full boil. The negi should be soft but retain their shape; the broth should smell of sweet soy (Yamagata) or mellow fermented miso (Miyagi).
7. 7
   Ladle into bowls. The broth should be clear and lightly caramelised for Yamagata-style, or opaque and warm-ochre for Miyagi-style. After the main course, any remaining broth — now enriched with taro starch — may receive cooked udon noodles to extend the meal.