Japanese Food Tips

Nagaimo is long and slender, and is relatively easy to break by hand. It extends about 80 cm./30 in. deep into the ground, and is harvested from late October to April. In recent years, by storing nagaimo in large refrigerators to preserve their freshness, some nagaimo is sold throughout the year. The two prefectures of Aomori (the northernmost of the main island) and Hokkaido (the northernmost big island) account for 80% of the harvest. Nagaimo contains a good balance of several minerals, vitamin B group and vitamin C, and also contains many digestive enzymes. Nagaimo is different from other potatoes in that it is usually peeled and the white inside is eaten raw. The way to eat nagaimo is to slice or chop it up and sprinkle bonito flakes and pour soy sauce over it, or to grate it, which is called tororo. Tororo is eaten over soba noodles or tuna sashimi with soy sauce. Tororo-jiru, which is a mixture of tororo, soy sauce-based soup and raw eggs mixed with a mortar and mortar stick to prevent them from separating, is eaten over rice and barley cooked together. Tororo-soba is available at most soba restaurants, and there are a few restaurants that specialize in tororo soup, so if you're interested, you should try them out.