Seida no Tamaji

Name: Seida no Tamaji
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: small new potatoes 500 g; cooking oil for frying 800 ml; dashi 600 ml; miso 1.25 tbsp; sugar 1 tbsp; mirin 0.5 tbsp; toasted sesame seeds 1 tsp

Quick answer

Total time: 60 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients: 7

About this dish

Small new potatoes are fried whole and slowly until their thin skins wrinkle, then simmered in dashi and rolled in miso, sugar, and mirin until a thick glaze clings to them.

The dish belongs to Yuzurihara in Uenohara, Yamanashi. Seida honors Nakai Seidayu, an official who promoted potato growing after a famine in the late Edo period, and tamaji means small potatoes, a reminder that undersized tubers were never wasted. The fried skins turn savory while the centers stay fluffy.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

small new potatoes

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cooking oil for frying

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Instructions

5 steps

1

Scrub 500g small new potatoes, each 3 to 4cm wide, clean without peeling.

Trim only damaged spots and dry completely with a clean towel to prevent oil splatter.
2

Heat 800ml frying oil to 150°C in a deep pot.

Carefully add the potatoes and fry over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes, turning every 3 minutes. When the skins wrinkle and a skewer enters halfway, drain for 2 minutes.
3

Transfer the potatoes to a snug pot and pour in 600ml dashi to nearly cover.

Bring to a boil, reduce to medium, and simmer for 15 minutes, until a skewer enters the center easily but the potatoes remain intact.
4

Ladle 3 tablespoons broth into a bowl and dissolve 1.25 tablespoons miso, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 0.5 tablespoon mirin.

Return to the pot and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, shaking the pot every 2 minutes to coat evenly.
5

When about 4 tablespoons liquid remain, reduce to low and roll the potatoes for 3 minutes more.

Remove from the heat when the thick miso glaze coats the skins deeply, then sprinkle with 1 teaspoon toasted sesame.