Kimpira (Braised Root Vegetables)

Ingredients (serves 4): Braised carrot and burdock 1 burdock (gobo) 5 cm (2 inches) carrot 4 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons mirin 2 tablespoons salad oil 2 teaspoons sesame oil 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds	Braised lotus root 10 cm (4 inches) lotus root (renkon) 4 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons mirin 2 tablespoons salad oil 2 teaspoons sesame oil 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds or 1/6 oz dried bonito flakes (kezuri-bushi)
Directions: Braised carrot and burdock 1. Wash the burdock with a brush. Do not peel it - the skin adds flavor to the dish.
2. Cut the burdock in your favorite style, perhaps shaved (sasagaki), in 2mm-thick slices, or as match-sized sticks. Leave the skin even.
3. Peel the carrot and cut it into pieces that are the same size as the burdock pieces.
4. Heat the pan, and add 2 tablespoons of salad oil. Saute the vegetables.
5. Add 2 tablespoons of water and braise the vegetables. Add the soy sauce and mirin, and saute the vegetables. Cook until the sauce is gone, then sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over the burdock as you like.
Braised lotus root 1. Peel the lotus root and cut it into rolling slices or 2mm-thick slices.
2. Heat the pan, and add 2 tablespoons of salad oil. Saute the vegetables. Add 2 tablespoons of water and braise the vegetables.
3. Add the soy sauce and mirin, and saute the vegetables.
4. Cook until the sauce is gone, then sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds or dried bonito flakes over the lotus root as you like.
Tips: In Japan kimpira of root vegetables is a popular traditional recipe. Root vegetables are favored because circulation and digestion. Soaking the sliced vegetables in water is omitted from this recipe, because the root vegetables currently available or strong in flavor as they once were. Please complete preparation of this dish quickly before the vegetables change to a dark color.
Japanese Liquid Measures: 1 cup = 200ml = 6.76 fl oz 1 tablespoon = 15ml = 0.5 fl oz 1 teaspoon = 5ml = 0.16 fl oz