Yamaimo Salad | Japanese Mountain Yam & LAKERS!!!

Posted by Judy | Bebe Love Okazu on May 7, 2012 in Appetizers, Blog, Japanese Cuisine Favorites, Lakers, Salad, Vegetables & Vegetarian | 3 comments

How about them LAKERS?!?

ALL season, I haven’t blogged a peep about a single game played by my favorite L.A. Lakers – – – a complete anomaly! Right?!? (My past Lakers posts can be found under the Category section “Lakers”, if you are interested.)

I admit that I was turned off by the lockout at the beginning of this season, coupled with the fact that Phil was no longer our fearless leader (I was slightly depressed), and we didn’t become 17-time Champions to tie the Celtics record by losing to the Mavericks in the 2010-2011 season (just a bit more depressed). Just when I started to watch a few games, Fish was traded. FISH who, despite his age, still had a few good 3-pointers and Lakers heart. I was crushed. Frankly, all of these factors put me in a Lakers funk.

But there’s something about the playoffs.

First of all, the Lakers made it to the playoffs. They MADE IT! At one point I seriously felt as though we weren’t going to make it to the playoffs and I would be forced to cheer for the other L.A. team – yep, the Clippers. I never blog about ’em for a reason. The Lakers are my L.A. team. They made it to the playoffs and even better, they managed to scramble to 3rd place in the Western Conference Standings. Yessssss!!!

Sunday night’s Round 1, Game 4 of Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals was… hopeful. We celebrated an early Mother’s Day dinner with my in-laws on Sunday night, but we made it home in time to watch the last quarter of the game. All I can say is, “thank you, Lakers” for making those shots when we needed it, for playing like you were AWAKE tonight, and for playing more like a team.

Thanks for the 92 – 88 win, Lakers. And thanks for getting us ahead in this series to 3 – 1!!! I’m looking forward to Tuesday night’s game in L.A.!

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Does it seem like this post isn’t really about cooking?

This post is more about chopping-up yamaimo (Japanese Mountain Yam) and garnishing it with katsuo bushi (dried bonito shavings) and drizzling it with some shoyu (soy sauce), ponzu (citrus soy sauce), or dashi shoyu (seasoned soy sauce).

Would you consider that cooking, or a salad that requires a recipe? Probably not, huh?

Although the weather is still on the cool side, drizzly at times, grey, and dreary in So. California and it doesn’t much feel like Spring, lately I’ve been craving more fresh vegetables served raw and simply prepared. My palate is ready for Spring and warmer days.

Once in a while, when I visit the Asian supermarket, I like to treat myself by purchasing a big piece of yamaimo, or Japanese Mountain Yam (it is also known in Japanese as nagaimo). It can be slightly on the pricey side but I’ve found that our local Korean supermarket often has the best prices.

Yamaimo is a root vegetable that I grew-up with and something my Mom made regularly for us. She often served it grated, with a hint of seasoning and we ate (more like drank) this as is, or sometimes poured over hot rice. The only way to describe this stuff is that it is slimy. I know, that doesn’t sound very appetizing but it’s really quite delicious. This type of grated preparation of yamaimo is called tororo (post on tororo available here).

Because of my fondness for yamaimo and tororo, I also enjoy yamakake soba (or udon). I like the noodles served both cold, with a dipping sauce, and hot, in a broth. (Post on cold hiyashi yamamake soba available here).

The simplest way that my Mom prepares yamaimo is by making it into a small side salad. Japanese cuisine is infamous for very small, literally three to five bite, side dishes and this is one such dish. I imagine my Mom found this salad useful for the end pieces of the yamaimo that were too difficult to grate.

Yamaimo Salad | Japanese Mountain Yam Salad

• Small piece of yamaimo (nagaimo), peeled and sliced (approximately 2 1/2 cups)
• katsuo bushi (dried bonito flakes), for garnish
• kaiware (sprouted daikon radish seeds), optional for garnish
• shoyu (soy sauce), ponzu (citrus soy sauce), or dashi shoyu (seasoned soy sauce) for seasoning

1. Using a peeler, remove outer skin of the yamaimo, exposing the white inner flesh of the root.

2. Slice the yamaimo into small rectangular pieces.

3. Garnish with katsuo bushi (dried bonito flakes) and optional kaiware (daikon sprouts). When you’re ready to eat, simply drizzle a little soy sauce, ponzu, or dashi shoyu and enjoy!

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Hope everyone had a good Cinco de Mayo / Children’s Day / Boy’s Day weekend!

On Saturday, we celebrated “Kodomo No Hi” or Boy’s Day along with my Dad’s birthday and early Mother’s Day.

I’ll share more about our Japanese Children’s Day | Boy’s Day next time!

GO LAKERS!!!

Judy