Kinpira is a traditional Japanese vegetable dish often enjoyed at home. It’s really amazing dish for vegetarians and easy to cook if you have all the ingredient. The most tedious part is that you have to cut both the gobo (burdock root) and carrots into strips like matchstick, and if you are not used to chopping vegetables, it might be challenging (Of course you don’t have to be so precise). Kinpira refers a cooking style that is stir-fried and simmered with soy sauce and sugar. The most common ingredients are gobo, carrots, and lotus root. This is my favorite, so I cook it at least once a week.
1. Prepare the following three vegetables.
- 250g lotus root: Peel, and slice it into shape of half circles*.
- 1/2 carrot (about 80g): Peel, and cut it into 2 inches strips like matchstick
- 1/2 burdock root (about 80g): Peel, and cut it into 2 inches strips like matchstick*
*It’s better to expose them into diluted vinegar water (1 tablespoon vinegar : 1 cup water ->->just water is also fine) for about 5min to prevent their discoloration, and then wash them with water.
2. Prepare the following seasonings.
- 1 table spoon sesame oil
- 1/2-1 Chinese red chili: Get rid of seeds, and cut it into circles*
- 3 table spoons ‘sake’ (This is a typical Japanese seasoning)
- 3-4 table spoons ‘mirin’ (This is a typical Japanese seasoning)
- 2 table spoons soy sauce (This is a typical Japanese seasoning)
- 2 teaspoons ‘dashi’ (This is a typical Japanese seasoning)
- 1 teaspoons sugar
- Ground-up sesame seeds: optional, proper amount of your preference
*If you don’t like spicy, it is ok you don’t use the chili. It tastes so yummy too!
3. In a pan, heat sesame oil with red chili.
4. Add all cut vegetables, stir and fry them for 3-5 min on medium-high heat.
5. Add all seasonings except sesame seeds. It’s better to do this on low heat to prevent soy sauce from being burned.
6. Simmer on medium-high heat until liquid is almost gone.
7. Sprinkle ground-up sesame seeds on your preference.