How to cook lotus root (renkon) (2024)

terrible = really, really terribly good in french slang :)

maki

16 April, 2008 - 15:58

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Re: is it like ‘bad’ meaning

Finally, a vegetable that's far too underrated. Thanks a lot for featuring this one, Maki. =D

I'm Chinese, so the lotus root features more predominantly in things like soups - one very common one is a combination of pork bones and sliced lotus root, brought to a gentle, rolling boil and left to slowly simmer for a few hours, bringing out both the goodness of the pork and turning the lotus root slices somewhat al dente. Very delish, I must add.

I've been thinking of using renkon in oden, in addition to daikon, konnyaku and the likes, but then you'd probably have to simmer it for quite a long time (even longer than the daikon!) to get it soft and really flavoured.

I haven't seen fresh renkon until this spring. Oden seems like a winter dish. Potatoes store really long, so they are available year round. Lotus root, growing in the mud under water seem as though they'd be difficult to get in the winter, and unless they're processed they don't keep long.

maki

16 April, 2008 - 21:19

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Can not add much to above but to thank you for your simple recipes! Looks delicious!

I see often the slices filled with minced shrimp and then fried. Tasty and decorative as well.

Maki, sometimes, the root is a little dark inside. You cannot see it from the outside when you buy it. Any ideas, how (if?) to improve it?

Thanx a lot again!
t-in-t

tanja, I just try to select the healthiest-looking ones that are lighter in color outside (fleshy-brown-pink), and if there are dark spots I just cut them out. It is a bit difficult to tell from the outside though, that is very true.

Hi Maki,

I made this last night, the lotus root stir fry that is. I didn't use green onions but substituted it with chinese chives instead. It was very tasty. Hubby who is not fond of lotus roots at all decided to take a bite. He was pleasantly surprised and said it tasted very good. He says he will eat this again when I make it again. Thanks for sharing another great recipe!

I'm glad your husband liked it! Thank you always for your feedback Wakkun - they are really helpful :)

this recipes is really good, i just try it and love it . never know that lotus root can be this good.

simple and easy really satisfied

I've been wanting to make this salad since I saw it here. Mmm Lotus root. I finally had the chance, and I made some additions. I've posted my changes on my blog, along with a link back and a quote from your recipe, I hope you don't mind.

Your site always gives me tasty ideas, it's one of my favorite reads. Thanks for all you share!

maki

27 June, 2009 - 07:29

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I discovered this post actually through the photo which appeared on a search...though now I'm curious to try it after reading what you've said!

But, what does it taste 'like'?
You'd said 'regard as starchy vegetable' is it like a zucchini in flavor or other squash-type thing? Can it be compared to anything slightly less extoic so one who wants to try it may know what they're letting in for?

Thanks for posting this,

If it is prepped as above to get rid of any bitterness, it has a very neutral flavor. It's more about the texture (crunchy when lightly cooked, or sticky/starchy when grated or cooked a long time) rather than flavor. It takes on the flavors of whatever is cooked with/in/on it.

It's not zero-calorie, since it has a fair amount of starch and some protein too, but it is high in fiber so it could be used in a weight loss plan for that sense of fullness (not to mention keeping you know, the plumbing moving things along!) 100g (about 3 ox) of cooked lotus root has about 66 calories, 16g carbohydrates, 1.5g protein, 3.1g fiber. I treat it as a carb component of meals generally.

I've made the baked lotus chip recipe on jugalbandi a couple of times - it's great as long as they're eaten fresh out of the oven. (I went a little heavy on the cayenne one time and made my friends sweat!) Next time will be the stir fry.

I love your site - it helps me figure out what to do with all the random things I can't help buying from Japanese grocery stores!

I've described the taste already in this reply.

Had a whole bunch of renkon from our friend who got it from his dai fan/stalker. Wish someone would stalk me with homegrown veggies(^^)

Made the whole lot with the green onion recipe and no togarashi for the kids. My husband got one taste, I put a little away for the bento tomorrow and the 6 year old kindergartener proceeded to eat the entire bowl while i was preparing dinner. Guess it was pretty good. I've promised to buy more renkon for the rest of the family tomorrow.

My experience with lotus root is as follows:

I bought a lotus root from my local market in Tian Jin, China.

Admittedly, my Chinese is poor, but when I asked the vendor if I had to peel the skin, he said, "No."

So I didn't. I put the lotus slices in a wok full of boiling water, which proceeded to turn an evil shade of purple, causing me no small amount of distress.

For some reason I could not find anyone else who had this experience on google, or maybe just one guy, but that wasn't encouraging, so I went to Baidu, and used my Chinese language skills to find a few other people commenting about this, and some experts who said I was not poisoning myself by eating the evil purple brew that had unexpectedly appeared in my wok.

I also read that the peels contained the most..uh...purple-making stuff, and that you should put the sliced roots in vinegar, as this article suggests.

So the next night, I used a potato peeler to slice away the peel (which, by the way, tasted fine the night before)and put the slices in a vinegar/water solution for about 5 minutes.

But even after this, I got the same purple brew!

What gives? Surely someone has used lotus root as a dye somewhere, but I can't find that either.

Renkon makes for my favorite tempura item, followed by maitake. I like 'em both dipped in a little salt (sometimes maccha or ume flavored), rather than tempura tsuyu.

I like 'em even more than shrimp tempura!

I love renkon tempura. I can take or leave shrimp tempura actually ^_^ I think my favorite tempura is kabocha squash. Or shiso.