Kicchiri Kitchen Renkon Kinpira
Kinpira – salty, sweet, crunchy vegetables with a hint of spice – what is there not to like about this popular dish? Often found as a teeny side dish in bentos, it always left me craving more, so I took matters into my own hands and learnt how to make it. Kinpira is most commonly made using gobo (burdock root) and carrot, but this version with renkon (lotus root) is less of a hassle to make and just as delicious. Happy cooking!
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Serves 2-3 as a side dish
INGREDIENTS
200g renkon (lotus root)
1 Tbs. sesame oil
1 ½ Tbs. soy sauce
1 ½ Tbs. mirin (sweet cooking wine)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. white sesame seeds (optional)
Dash of chilli flakes or 1 small dried chilli, finely chopped (optional)
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METHOD
Peel the renkon. Cut in half length-wise (to make a half moon shape) and then cut into 3-5mm slices. Soak in a bowl of water for a few minutes.- Mix the soy sauce, mirin and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Drain the renkon slices and pat them with a paper towel to get rid of excess moisture.
- Heat the sesame oil in a frypan and add the renkon, spreading them out evenly. Do not stir, just leave it as is for one minute.
- Cook for another minute, this time stir-frying it.
- Turn off the heat. Take the pan off the stove and add the sauce from step 2 and chilli if using. Return to the heat and cook for a further minute and 20 seconds (or until the sauce is mostly gone).
- Turn off the heat and stir through the sesame seeds.
HINTS AND TIPS
- Don’t skip the soaking! I forgot it once and the vegetables burnt before they were cooked.
- Turning off the heat is important as the soy sauce, mirin and sugar mixture burns easily.
- Renkon sizes vary and how small you want the pieces is up to you. Generally for large renkon I’ll cut it into quarters and for smaller ones I’ll just cut in half or even leave it whole.
- When cooking renkon, it will sometimes turn purple. It may look weird but it’s nothing to worry about, it’s still perfectly edible!
Helen Yuan
