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easy braised satoimo (taro)
16oz-bag frozen taro
1 cup water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp sake
2 tbsp bonito flakes
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
pinch of salt

-in a pot, put frozen taro and water, sugar and sake. bring to a rolling boil and cook for 5 min on medium heat.
-add bonito flakes, soy sauce, and a pinch of salt. cook 5 more min.

-increase heat to high, add mirin, keep stirring to condense the broth (careful not to burn!)

if you make dashi you can use that instead of water and omit bonito flakes.
this is base recipe, but Japanese braised recipes (nimono) are versatile so you can add vegetables like carrots and green beans, proteins like chicken thighs, chicken wings... (squid makes a typical combo, but a bit tricky)

Thanks! I think I may try and fry them - always a great way to try out a new food product.

I love those tiny, slimy potatoes!

My mother used to make one of my favorite stews with them. Since the potatoes are usually bite-sized, they are kept whole.

All boiled until fully cooked in water, not broth, in separate pots:
- potatoes, skin on
- carrots, chopped
- dried kombu, long, rather thick, very wide strips
- daikon, chopped in large chunks
- bamboo shoots and/or lotus root, large chunks
- gobo

Other ingredients:
- a few shiitake, rehydrated
- konnyaku

Other ingredients that aren't really necessary:
- cooked, marinated pork chopped in stew chunks
- kampyo (gourd strips)

The potatoes should be peeled after being cooked. If your skin is sensitive, use gloves since it can make your hands itch. After a while, it's hard to peel the thick, bark-like skin because your hands will get slippery from the slime. :)

With the cooked kombu, you can either tie them in a knot and cut them so you have knotted kombu bites. Kind of like how ravioli is one strip and you cut them down.

Or you can roll the kombu up and tie the kampyo into a knot so it looks like a little parcel strapped in one direction (not like a gift where the binding is orthogonal).

Or take a small piece of the pork, wrap the kombu around it, and tie it with the kampyo to make a little parcel like above.

The knotted kombu is easier.

For the konnyaku, cut them in neat rectangular chunks (imagine a rectangle 1/8" thick x 1/4" wide x 2" long). Make a slice through the length down the middle but leave the top and bottom uncut by ~1/2". Slip the bottom edge through the slit, and gently pull the bottom through. You'll have a rectangular konnyaku piece with spirals along the left/right face, and a straight top/bottom. Hard to describe, easy to show. :)

The gobo should be scrubbed well, soaked overnight (for a while), rinsed, then boiled. My mother would use the starchy water from the first washing of rice. You'll notice that the gobo will be white.

Before serving, all the cooked ingredients are placed into a pot of broth (standard dashi), warmed for a very brief period, and served without the broth. :P

Deep fried crispy duck with taro. It's a great intro to the taste of taro, though it is a time intensive recipe.

Steam the taro to cook it. Then mash it up to get a nice smooth consistency. Take the seasoned mash and put a 1/2" layer on the underside of on a already cooked duck breast - roasted, pan seared, however you want to cook the duck. Lightly coat the taro in cornstarch. Then deep or shallow fry the whole thing until the taro gets that lovely brown crispy and airy quality. You have to be careful when you fry because the taro has a tendency to want to slip off. You want to keep it flat and use a spatula to keep it together when you move it. Traditionally it is served with a sticky, sweet soy sauce.

You end up with duck that is crispy on both sides! One side from the skin and the other from the taro. Soo good.