Ask any Japanese chef what gives his buckwheat noodles heft, and he’ll tell you it’s yamaimo, the indigenous yam. ‚ When one of Terri Rogers’ customers brought her a high-fiber yam and water noodle from Japan, she immediately started thinking of ways she could use it at her Highland Park restaurant, Lincolnshire Gourmet. ‚ She then worked with a local company to help develop and market the product, calling it a NoOodle, thanks to its healthy properties. The noodle is incredibly bland solo, but it does an amazing job of absorbing liquids and flavors from anything that cooks along with it. ‚ Rogers not only keeps it on her menu, but the product is now available in retail locations like Foodstuffs, Sunset Foods and Caputo’s. ‚ There’s also a line of ready-to-eat products featuring the NoOodle, and it’s been showing up on menus around the suburbs like Antico Posto in Oak Brook and The Happ Inn in Northfield, as well as Zed 451 and Ina’s downtown.