Monster-like Vegetable
I locked eyes with this thing at a convenience store on my way home.
It was a strange-looking object, and
I thought it looked like a monster.
It's hard to tell from this photo, but...
When I looked it up,
it seems there is a monster called Yamata no Orochi.
That's it. (No, it's not.)
It's like it has a main body with many heads attached.
With that rugged appearance and color,
I thought it was a bit eerie, but I couldn't take my eyes off it.
By the way, it's the type of convenience store that sells a lot of vegetables outside.
The kind where you wonder, 'Is this a convenience store or a supermarket?'
The selection is surprisingly good, and it's cheap.
They even have rare vegetables, which I like.
They have cilantro, too. The best.
Being a bundle of curiosity and appetite, I successfully purchased the monster from Saitama.
So, it seems it's called Yatsugashira,
and it's apparently a lucky charm often included in Osechi (New Year's dishes).
Yatsugashira is used in New Year's Osechi dishes because, in addition to the image of prosperity for descendants that taro has, it uses the lucky kanji 'eight' (hachi), which implies spreading out, and it carries the wish that one may become a leader (top) among people.
I'm sorry for calling you a monster.
You were a good guy, weren't you?
And apparently, you're actually quite famous. It seems I was just ignorant.
Since it seems to be a relative of taro, I should like the taste.
I wonder how it differs from taro, etc.
Looking forward to it, I start cooking.
The cooking instructions said to wash off the mud and then peel it a bit thickly,
but...
When I tried to peel it like an apple,
I almost cut my finger off.
It's quite hard, so the apple-peeling method isn't good.
I peeled it by cutting off thick slices.
I'm a little worried if this way of cutting is correct.
It looks a bit angular.
I thought about making Imotaki, a local dish from Ehime, but
I didn't have any shiitake mushrooms or fried tofu.
Instead, I added lotus root and pumpkin,
and it turned into something like a regular kenchin-jiru with chicken. lol
The chicken is chicken drumsticks and chicken breast.
(I actually wanted to use chicken thigh, but when I thawed it, it turned out to be breast 🥹 lol)
Time to eat
On the left, you can see
stir-fried green peppers with salted kelp and
cilantro tomato salad (a sudden exotic vibe)
As for the actual verdict...
It's delicious after all!
It feels lighter than taro.
It's not sticky and the potato flavor is a bit mild?
But,
it doesn't have as much impact as it looks
and since I like sticky, fluffy taro,
I preferred the taro ☺️ lol
But I do like it, generally speaking.
The challenge was fun!
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