Burdock & Carrot Kinpira

Now that Fall is in the air and the farmers’ markets are whirling with new delicious veggies, what better time than now to try some new recipes!  I have the perfect (and easy) recipe for a Burdock & Carrot Kinpira.

Kinpira refers to a Japanese cooking style of braising vegetables, typically root vegetables, and often a combination of carrot and burdock. Burdock is a tenacious root that’s especially good for your liver and blood. It’s often available in farmers’ markets in the fall. If you can’t find burdock, any combination of hearty vegetables will work – try carrots, parsnips and onions, or even carrots and beets.

SERVES: 4
TIME: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of unrefined sesame oil plus more if necessary
• 1 burdock root, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks (thinly slice on the bias, line up the pieces like soldiers and cut crosswise), kept in a bowl of cold water if you’re not cooking it immediately
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks as per the burdock
• about 2/3 cup water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons low sodium wheat-free tamari (can swap soy sauce)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 tablespoon honey (preferably raw)
• one 1″ knob of ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat.

Drain the burdock and add it to the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Adjust the heat so that it’s high enough for the burdock to sizzle, but not so high that it scorches. Add a bit of oil, if necessary, to keep the burdock from sticking.

After 5 minutes of stir-frying, add the carrot and enough water to come half way up the vegetables (about 2/3 cup, depending on the size of your pan).

Bring the mixture to a boil, stir in the tamari, mirin and honey, cover with a drop lid (a lid that’s slightly smaller than the pan so that it sits directly on top of the vegetables), and turn the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove the lid, turn the heat to high and cook until the vegetables are glazed, about 2 minutes.

Put the kinpira on a plate and squeeze over the grated ginger-essentially you are ‘seasoning’ the kinpira with the ginger juice.

Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve warm or at room temperature.