Yamagata Taro Hot Pot (芋煮, Imoni)

Autumn in Yamagata can be read in one humble thing: satōimo, the little taro that turns creamy when it is treated gently. Imoni is named for it, not the beef, not the soy-dark broth, and that tells you where to put your attention. When the taro is at 旬 (shun, at its prime), this pot needs very little persuasion.

People see a big riverside pot and think it must be a production. It isn't. It is a nabe, a shared simmered pot, built from dashi, taro, konnyaku, beef, and negi. The first secret is order: cook the taro almost tender before the beef goes in. The taro needs time to turn creamy; the beef needs only minutes, and if you boil it like laundry it will repay the insult.

Yamagata's inland imoni is soy sauce and beef. Along the Shōnai coast, the pot often becomes miso and pork, which is also honmono, just not this pot. Here we keep the broth clear enough to taste the taro and sweet enough to flatter the beef, with nothing hidden. Set the donabe, the clay pot, in the center, give the ingredients room, and the autumn gathering is on the table, even if there is no riverbank within sight.