Kinpira Gobo

Kinpira Gobo is a traditional Japanese dish often enjoyed at home and you might be familiar with it since it’s typically served in bento box from Japanese markets.  It’s really easy to cook if you have all the ingredients (and these are very common ingredients for Japanese household).  The most tedious part is that you have to julienne both gobo (burdock root) and carrot, and if you are not used to chopping veggies, it might be challenging (but of course you don’t have to be so precise).  Kinpira means a cooking style that you stir fry and simmer with sugar and soy sauce.  The most common ingredients used for Kinpira is gobo and carrot, but lotus root is another common ingredient for this cooking style.  My recipe is a very simple one which children can enjoy.  It’s optional to add chili to make this dish spicy which also tastes really delicious.

Kinpira Gobo (Braised Carrot & Burdock Root)

Ingredients

• 1 gobo (burdock root)
• ⅓ carrot
• 1 Tbsp neutral flavor oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp white sesame seeds (roasted/toasted)
• Ichimi Togarashi (Japanese chili pepper) (optional)

Seasonings:

• ¾ cup dashi (use kombu dashi for vegetarian)
• 2 Tbsp sake
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp mirin
• 1½ Tbsp soy sauce

Garnish:

• Korean Chili Thread (optional)

Instructions

1. Gather all the ingredients.
2. Peel gobo’s skin with peeler or traditionally we scrape (peel) the skin off with the back of kitchen knife. Then diagonally slice thinly so that each piece is about 2 inch length. Then collect some of the slices and cut into thin matchbox strips. Soak the gobo in water or vinegar water (just one drop of vinegar would do). Change water a couple of times until the water becomes clean. Then leave the gobo in water until you are ready to stir fry.
3. Cut carrots into matchbox strips.
4. In a frying pan, heat the oil over medium high heat and stir fry gobo first. Then add carrot next after you cook gobo for a few minutes.
5. Add the ingredients for the seasonings and cook until most of liquid evaporates.
6. When the liquid is almost gone, add sesame oil and sprinkle sesame seeds and ichimitogarashi.

https://www.justonecookbook.com/kinpira-gobo-braised-carrot-burdock-root/