Grated Mountain Yam ('tororo' in Japanese) is a quick way of making a delicious side dish by simply grating a mountain yam and pouring it over an ingredient. Maguro no Yamakake is a popular dish because it is so easy to make and tasty. Just pour tororo over a pile of marinated tuna pieces with a bit of garnish on top. Simple but so delicious. Watch the video.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 150g/5.3oz tuna (sashimi quality)
- 120g/4.2oz mountain yam (note 1)
- Kizami nori (note 2)
- Wasabi paste (note 3)
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Dice tuna into 2cm/¾” cubes. It’s OK to have slightly different shapes as long as the size of the pieces is similar.
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Put the tuna and the Tuna Marinade ingredients in a bowl or a zip lock bag. Marinate for 15 minutes, during which turn the tuna over a couple of times.
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Peel mountain yam and grate it using a very fine grater (note 4).
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Transfer the marinated tuna to a serving bowl, making a mound. Reserve the marinade.
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Pour the grated yam over the tuna, leaving 1/3 of the tuna uncovered rather than covering all of the tuna with the yam (this is just my plating style).
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Scatter kizami nori over and put a small knob of wasabi paste on the side of the bowl.
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Serve with the marinade in a small container. If needed, pour a small amount of marinade over the yam to eat. (Note 5)
1. I used a less watery mountain yam that is much thicker and stickier than nagaimo (Chinese mountain yam) when grated. Varieties of mountain yam that Japanese people often use are listed in the post Sautéed Mountain Yam (Nagaimo).
2. Instead of kizami nori, you can use aonori or finely chopped chives.
3. I put a knob of wasabi paste on the side of the bowl so that you can omit wasabi if you prefer not to have it. If you are happy to have wasabi, you can dilute wasabi in the marinade as an alternative method. This method is probably easier if you are going to mix wasabi into the ingredients.
4. The peeled flesh of mountain yam is very slippery. I use a piece of kitchen paper to hold the peeled yam root. This stops the yam root slipping from your hand when holding it.
Depending on the type of yam you use, grated mountain yam sometimes becomes brownish as you grate it. The change of colour is caused by the oxidation of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase. You can prevent oxidation to a certain degree by leaving the peeled yam in vinegar water (1 tablespoon vinegar in 2 cups water) before grating it.
5. Alternatively, add some marinade to the bowl when the tuna pieces are placed in it so that you don’t need to pour the marinade over the yam.
The marinade has a quite strong soy-flavour, so don't pour too much.
6. Nutrition per serving. It assumes you consumed all the marinade with yamakake, which is unlikely.
serving: 172g calories: 207kcal fat: 0.5g (1%) saturated fat: 0.1g (1%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 0.1g monounsaturated fat: 0.1g cholesterol: 29mg (10%) sodium: 481mg (20%) potassium: 667mg (19%) carbohydrates: 26g (9%) dietary fibre: 0.1g (0%) sugar: 13g protein: 20g vitamin a: 1% vitamin c: 0% calcium: 0.9% iron: 5.4%