This Tuber Tastes Like Hashbrowns

After a recent acupuncture session, my practitioner insisted I try a vegetable she thought might help my hormonal chaos: Nagaimo (長芋), also known as mountain yam, is native to East Asia, with a long history of cultivation in Japan.

These tubers are not the most gorgeous vegetable on the shelf. The hefty beige batons are covered in hairy, rough skin, speckled in a pattern that’s gonna give all you tryptophobes nightmares. But the cooked version she handed me from a Tupperware in her fridge was wildly delicious. Peeled and pan-fried until golden, before being quickly braised in soy sauce until caramelized, the still-crunchy medallions tasted like literal hash browns.