Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Servings: 2
Recipe by Japanese chef, food writer and cookery teacher Yuki Gomi.
Soft, roasted and caramelised sweet potatoes, brushed with a simple glaze of miso and mirin and returned briefly to the oven. The glaze melts and clings, glossy and fragrant, without burning or turning bitter. The sweetness of the potato brings out the roundness of the miso, rather than competing with it.
Alongside, I love serving it with a salad of sea vegetables, cucumber and tofu. Sea vegetables are everyday foods in Japan, soaked, dressed and eaten without fuss. They bring a gentle salinity and a soft, slippery texture that contrasts well with roasted vegetables. The cucumber is crisp and clean-tasting. A dressing of yuzu, sesame oil, rice vinegar and a little honey ties everything together, with grated ginger for warmth.
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes, halved lengthways
- 1 tsp vegetable oil (sunflower or olive)
For the miso glaze
For the salad
- 150 g super-firm tofu
- ½ tbsp shio koji (optional)
- 10 g Japanese dried sea vegetable salad mix
- ½ cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds scraped out and thinly sliced into half-moons
For the dressing
- 1 tbsp yuzu juice
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp reduced-salt soy sauce
- ½ tsp runny honey
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
To garnish
- ½ tbsp mixed seeds or sesame seeds
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, or 180°C fan. Drizzle the sweet potatoes with the sunflower oil and place them cut-side down in a roasting tin. Roast for about 30 minutes, or until soft and lightly caramelised.
- While the potatoes are cooking, mix the miso and mirin together in a small bowl to make the glaze.
- Turn the sweet potatoes over, brush generously with the miso glaze, and return them to the oven for a further 5 minutes, until glossy and fragrant. Keep an eye on them so the glaze warms through without burning.
- Squeeze any excess moisture from the tofu and crumble it into a bowl. If using the shio koji, stir it through the tofu and leave to marinate for at least 15 minutes, or up to 2 hours.
- Soak the dried sea vegetables in a bowl of lukewarm water for 10 to 15 minutes, until fully softened and expanded. Drain and rinse well. Place in a bowl.
- Put the sliced cucumber in a separate bowl, sprinkle with a small pinch of salt, and leave for 5 minutes. Squeeze out the excess liquid using kitchen paper, then add the cucumber to the sea vegetables.
- To make the dressing, whisk together the yuzu seasoning, sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce and honey in a small bowl. Stir in the grated ginger and toasted sesame seeds.
- Pour the dressing over the sea vegetable and cucumber salad and toss gently to coat. Top with the marinated tofu.
- Serve the salad alongside the miso-glazed sweet potatoes, scattering the mixed seeds over the potatoes just before serving.
© Yuki's Kitchen Ltd. 2021
This article was originally published on Japanese Food. Simply. by chef and teacher Yuki Gomi.
Yuki blends traditional and modern techniques to make Japanese cooking approachable and delicious.
