“Snow” Hot Pot with Mountain Yam

The recipe for a “snow” hot pot in Japanese Hot Pots, by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat, intrigued me. It called for mountain yam (nagaimo) in a way I had never used it: coarsely chopped and then liquefied in a blender. Here, I pour the blended yam over simmering dashi laced with scallops, napa cabbage, and shiitake and enoki mushrooms, creating a layer of “snow” on top. It’s an aesthetic touch that is at once poetic and unfamiliar to the Western palate. Look for the mitsuba<