Yacon Carrot Salad with Wasabi

Peeled and cut yacon discolors when exposed to the air. Acidity from citrus or vinegar maintains the white color. When making this salad, prepare the dressing first so you can quickly add the julienned yacon to it and preserve the color. Note my suggestion for using the food processor to speed preparation. As I keep working with the yacon in recipes I find I’m mostly trying to adapt dishes that might use jicama, Asian pears, potatoes or daikon. Some have worked well enough to publish on this blog.
Serves 4-6

Dressing ingredients
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp *wasabi paste or ½ teaspoon powder
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
½ teaspoon grated lemon peel
½ tsp grated ginger
½ teaspoon dark sesame oil

Combine ingredients in a bowl and stir until mixed. Set aside.

Salad ingredients
8 oz. julienned or shredded yacon
8 oz. julienned or shredded carrot
¾ cup cooked edamame beans (shelled edible soybean)

Prepare dressing before making salad. To shred in a food processor peel both yacon and carrots and cut into 2” lengths. Place these in the processor and with a shredding or julienne blade firmly press on the vegetables while the processor is running. A bit of pressure produces a large shred that is almost as attractive as from a mandoline. Mandolines or the Japanese Benreiner version, produce perfect strips but I worry about carelessly cutting off part of my knuckle.
* Wasabi paste or dried wasabi produce similar results in this dressing. This is the green tinged horseradish relative native to Japan.