Konnyaku

Konjac (konnyaku)

What it is

The corm spends three years underground before it is worth lifting, and the flour milled from it will not set with heat alone — it needs an alkali, traditionally limewater, and that is where the faint mineral smell comes from. Japanese has long called it the broom of the stomach, and for centuries it was eaten as much for that as for the plate.

In the kitchen

Parboil it two or three minutes in salted water first; that step alone removes the alkaline smell people blame on the ingredient itself. Tear it rather than slice it — a torn face is rough and holds several times the sauce a knife-cut one does.

Goes with

Kombu Daikon Hatchō miso Soy sauce Hon-mirin Toasted sesame oil Chili pepper Chicken

Same species

Konjac glucomannan

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