Deep-fried Japanese Taro & about fermentation

Satoimo no Suage

Taro (“Satoimo” in Japanese) is a root vegetable that is eaten in Asia, Oceania, and many countries in Africa. You might find taro in an Asian grocery store. It has a sticky texture inside like a potato. Japanese people enjoy taro in various ways in autumn and winter. For example, we cook simmered taro, miso soup with taro in it, and so on. Today we introduce deep-fried Japanese taro without breading or butter. You can feel a slight sweetness of taro by deep-frying. Also, you can enjoy both a crispy texture outside and a sticky texture inside as you steam them before deep-frying. This is the recipe we ate at the organic restaurant "WE ARE THE FARM" in Shibuya. As it was simple yet delicious, we often cook this during taro season.

Deep-fried taro and marinated red turnips and salad spinach dressed with shoyu-mugi koji and olive oil

Make time: 30 minutes | Serves: 2 as a main

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Ingredients

4-6 Taro

oil

salt

pepper

Directions

Wash Taro well. Leave some of the skin on to enjoy the crispy texture when fried.

Steam Taro until they are soft enough to be stuck with a bamboo skewer. Cut them into 2 -3 by forks.

Place in oil at 360 degrees F/180 degrees C, and deep-fry until the skin is crispy and the surface is golden brown. Drain the excess oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

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Introduce fermentation into your cooking.

Homemade shoyu-mugi koji (Soy sauce and barley koji mold)

Japan has traditionally incorporated fermented ingredients and foods such as miso, soy sauce, sake, mirin (sweet rice wine), amazake, and so on into its daily life. Koji mold, a national fungus in Japan is a living microorganism, and it is used to make these fermented ingredients and foods. Fermentation help preserve foods and gives dishes a unique and deeper flavor. Moreover, it is said to help digest and promote good gut flora.

One of the fermented ingredients that we like to make and use in our cooking is shoyu-mugi koji (Soy sauce and barley koji mold). We dress shoyu-mugi kojii with olive oil and vinegar and use it in salads or as a sesame paste for green vegetables (goma-ae).

You can learn how to cook goma-ae, boiled green vegetables with sesame dressing in our Online Shojin ryori and Tempura cooking class.

Shojin ryori and Tempura cooking