Lotus Root

[aznsailorboi]

Anybody got a recipe for the dried sweetened lotus root candy. the one they have for CNY? haha I did an experminentation and I ended up with something that's like that sweet potato cooked in thick syrup, same flavor, same texture, pretty good but not expecting to look and taste like that.

[Seitch]

It's very plentiful in Chinese markets in San Francisco.  I'd call it more crunchy than starchy.

←

Some lotus roots are crunchy and some are starchy. Does anyone know how to tell whether a given root is one or the other without actually buying a few and cooking them? I prefer crunchy myself.

[AzianBrewer]

I deep fried it once and they were awesome with some salt.

[aznsailorboi]

I deep fried it once and they were awesome with some salt.

←

that sounds good.....well everything fried is good hehehe. but I would guess it taste just like french fried sweet potato, without the sweetness.

[Dejah]

It's very plentiful in Chinese markets in San Francisco.  I'd call it more crunchy than starchy.

←

Some lotus roots are crunchy and some are starchy. Does anyone know how to tell whether a given root is one or the other without actually buying a few and cooking them? I prefer crunchy myself.

←

The ones with round segments are starchy and the elongated ones are crunchy.

I love this soup with pork and octopus!

[chappie]

Does anyone have any recipes involving cutting the end(s) off a whole lotus root and stuffing the holes? It seems this would be great with some sort of ground pork mixture, and my friend in China says he has had it often stuffed with some type of fermented rice.

[Yuki]

Does anyone have any recipes involving cutting the end(s) off a whole lotus root and stuffing the holes? It seems this would be great with some sort of ground pork mixture, and my friend in China says he has had it often stuffed with some type of fermented rice.

←

I know that there is a dessert where a whole lotus root is stuffed with sticky rice and then cooked in syrup infused with osmanthus.

You can see a picture of it over here.

Sticky Rice Stuffed Lotus Root

Although you can stuff the holes with ground pork but I would imagine that it would take quite a bit of work to not break the lotus and ensure all the holes are filled completely. My family usually just slice the lotus into 0.5cm slices and stick some mixture of pork, and mushroom between two slices of lotus root.

[miladyinsanity]

I love lotus root soup. It's best if the soup has peanuts in it.

It's nice raw dipped into sugar too.

And Gary Soup? The good ones are starchy and have a quality the Fujian people call "sang." Sorry, but I can't translate that into Mandarin.

[Pan]

Could you translate it into English, or failing that, Malay?

[jokhm]

Not so crazy to stuff it with pork, as long as you stuff it, then cook it and finally slice it! Yes, doing it backwards will make a mess. And the lotus stuffed with fermented sticky rice in syrop is a typical zhejiang/shanghai appetizer. mm Good but sweet!

I've also often had it sliced, with groud pork in between two slices, battered and then deepfried.

But the absolute BEST lotus-anything I've ever eaten was at a Hunan/Hubei restaurant in Beijing that consisted of rice powder, chopped up chilis, garlic, ginger, and chopped up lotus．．．　all mixed together into a highly textures mass and then ... fried.. maybe...?

I will be in Changsha, Hunan next week for Chinese new years.. and I'm told that this is one dish that might be able to find in the nearby villages. Interesting timing, considering the OP's original location of interest!

[miladyinsanity]

Could you translate it into English, or failing that, Malay?

←

If I could, I would have.

But basically it means that it's sort of 'powdery,' with an almost creamy mouthfeel.

Most of the time, when you slice the raw lotus root, and it has a lot of those 'strings,' it means it'll be sang.

And I don't speak Malay.

[donk79]

Deos anyone know anything about harvesting lotus root, or if any particular varieties are commonly used for cooking. The family farm has one particular pond that I grew up fishing in. Unfortunaltey, a number of years ago it was overtaken by lotus, making it nearly impossible to fish. Can I take these lemons and make lemonade?

[cassady]

Lotus Root is also popular in Kashmiri cuisine (which is as different from Northern Indian cuisine as Provencal is from French). It's cooked in many ways; my fave is cooked in a yogurt sauce called 'yakhni.'

It's called 'nadur' or 'nadru' in Kashmiri; recipes can be found on the web.

best,

cass

[canucklehead]

When I was young - my mother would prepare braised pork belly with lotus root - I still love it. But one thing she was adament about was not slicing the root - but breaking up my hand. I think it was to preserve the 'stringy' qualities of it. I used to try to stretch the strings out as long as I could... like it was pizza cheese.

I need to write down these recipes as my mom cooks these things less and less.

[hzrt8w]

My father cooked lotus roots whole, usually in Cantonese soup. But he cut them into slices before serving.

[miladyinsanity]

Ah Leung, did he smash the lotus root slightly too?

[Dejah]

Ah Leung, did he smash the lotus root slightly too?

←

I cut mine into chunks lengthwise - still manageable with chopsticks and maintaining the "strings". Kids love playing with those.

Throw the chunks into a big pot with pieces of leg of pork, (I buy the skin-on/bone-in pieces), acouple big pieces of ginger, rehydrated octopus, some stalks of ham choi. Let it simmer on the stove for hours...

[hzrt8w]

Ah Leung, did he smash the lotus root slightly too?

←

I don't recall my father ever smashed the lotus root. He always cooked it whole, just with the connecting bottle neck portion trimmed. He always cooked it with skin on too, never peeled.

[canucklehead]

Ah Leung, did he smash the lotus root slightly too?

←

I don't recall my father ever smashed the lotus root. He always cooked it whole, just with the connecting bottle neck portion trimmed. He always cooked it with skin on too, never peeled.

←

It is one of those regional esoteric points of contention that always make Chinese food so interesting. My mother and friends were really adamant - never never slice lotus root.

The first time I really saw sliced lotus root was when I lived in Shanghai - it was served as a sweet, stuffed with gwai fai scented sticky rice and red dates and sliced thinly. It was delicous.

[miladyinsanity]

My mom cooks it in the soup before taking it out to slice and dropping it back in.

[Dejah]

Made the lotus root soup yesterday along with rehydrated octopus, 2 pork hocks, ginger and ham choi.

I had double boiled the pork hocks, simmered them with the rehydrated octopus for about three hours before I added the lotus root. I tried the lotus 3 ways, cut lengthwise, one link "smashed", and one link not peeled and left whole. They all turned out the same, stringy and tender. I thought the rounder links were supposed to be more starchy, but this bag proved me wrong!

This is going to be the Year of the Dog. Our Atticus was hopeful

The lotus root was stringy, the pork hocks and octopus were very tender.

[aznsailorboi]

I bought 3 pound of lotus roots yesterday, just for the heck of it since it was US$1.49 /lb. I dunno what to do with it now.... was thinking something like a stew with lotus roots, but all the recipes I found were soups and stir fries, and the occasional dessert. I stir fried some last night, and I have the powdery, starchy kind. Any suggestions?!?

[Dejah]

I bought 3 pound of lotus roots yesterday, just for the heck of it since it was US$1.49 /lb. I dunno what to do with it now.... was thinking something like a stew with lotus roots, but all the recipes I found were soups and stir fries, and the occasional dessert. I stir fried some last night, and I have the powdery, starchy kind. Any suggestions?!?

←

Soup is not so different from stew...just more liquid. You can add lots of ingredients, then reduce and thicken with a cornstarch slurry for a stew.

If you want to make stew, then try braising with pork belly, or trotters, spareribs, along with some carrot, celery, etc. Just improvise. I think lotus probably works best with pork.

[miladyinsanity]

I agree with Dejah. Lotus root goes best with pork.

(And I'm not stalking you. Really :laughing: )

[aznsailorboi]

Ok I'm out of ideas for tonight's dinner and I don't care if my roomate likes it or not, I'm gonna make Bah Kut Teh and add the lotus root slices in and some dried lilly flower buds, hmm I think that would taste pretty good. add an interesting play of texture to the oh so yummy melt in your mouth pork...........