Traditional Japanese for Busy Folks: Kinpira Gobo

It's been a busy year. But then again, when is life not busy? As it turns out, that is the beauty of this little recipe. I made it for the first time a few weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised to find out how quick and easy this is. This dish is actually one of my grandmother's signature sides. Or used to be--she tells me she doesn't cook any more. Maybe I can make it for her when I visit in a few months.

Here's a little background, in case you are not familiar with the main ingredient, burdock root (gobo in Japanese). It is a very loooong and skinny root vegetable with an earthy flavor and crisp, fibrous texture.

It needs to be prepared in order to eat--I would very much recommend that one not bite off and eat a raw, unprepared chunk.  Preparing usually involves allowing it to soak in cold water or cold water and vinegar for 10 minutes or so.

Gobo is also valued for some of its medicinal qualities. Among other things, it helps to draw impurities out of the body and helps with, er, regularity.

But really, it is a yummy vegetable and here is a delicious recipe that showcases it. Please keep in mind that I live at high altitude (mile-high, to be exact) so I've adapted all my recipes accordingly. Also adapted to my personal taste, which is impeccable.

Kinpira Gobo (Simmered Stir-Fried Burdock Root)

Ingredients

2 stalks of burdock root

1 medium carrot

2 small red chiles or dash dried red pepper flakes or dash cayenne pepper

roasted sesame seeds

   Flavoring

1/2 cup dashi stock (other stocks such as chicken stock will also work, but dashi is best)

3 T. soy sauce

2 T. mirin

up to 1 T. sugar (personal taste)

1. Prepare the vegetables. Peel (use a potato peeler) and cut the burdock root into a fine julienne, about 2 inches long, and allow to soak in cold water for 10 minutes. Drain and then rinse and drain as much excess water as you can. 

Cut the carrot into a fine julienne, about 2 inches long.

If using fresh red chile, finely slice, crosswise.

  



2. Combine Flavorings ingredients in small bowl or measuring cup.

3. Heat fry pan to medium high and add 1 T. vegetable oil. Add burdock root and stir for about a minute. Add carrots and stir until oil has coated all vegetables. Add red chiles/chile flake/cayenne pepper and stir.

4. Pour in Flavorings mixture and stir continually until the liquid is gone. Remove from heat, plate, and sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds. Enjoy hot, room temperature, or cold. Great as leftovers, especially in a bento.

Maybe at this point you're wondering where you can get (a) burdock root and (b) dashi stock. I purchase a lot of my Asian ingredients at either Pacific Mercantile downtown or H-Mart in Aurora (Parker and Yale). Pacific Mercantile is a Japanese grocery store and H-Mart is a Korean grocery that carries a lot of Japanese goods. You can also purchase powdered dashi at regular grocery stores such as King Soopers or Safeway. (Just mix with water.) If you're inclined to make your own dashi from scratch, you will need to get those ingredients from one of the Asian stores (if you're in the Denver area, that is).

Sorry, no recipe for dashi from scratch at this time. Gotta run. I'm having a busy year.