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You are here: Home / Ingredients / Burdock – Gobo

Burdock – Gobo

September 17, 2009 by Benjamin and Koshiki 3 Comments

burdock

Burdock is a root vegetable that is easily  found in the wild  and is a cultivated vegetable in Japan.  Besides  its culinary uses, it is also used in traditional Chinese medicine, and it’s sticky seeds became  an inspiration for a new, breakthrough technology – Velcro.

The roots of  young burdock plants are used in cooking , since it becomes overly fibrous when grown too large. Look for burdock roots that are firm and are between 18 – 24 inches in length and about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter. The burdock pictured above was grown organically from a small producer, Harmony Valley, in Wisconsin.

Burdock has a crunchy texture and an earthy, nutty flavor. Its thin skin can be removed with a light scrubbing or scraping.  It is rich in phenolic (anti-oxidants) compounds and will easily  turn grayish-brown when sliced.  To prevent this,  place freshly cut burcok in cold water with a little vinegar or lemon juice.

Burdock is most famously used in Kinpira – a dish of sliced carrots and burdcok simmered in dashi, soy sauce and mirin. It also found in soups, braised dishes (e.g. chicken and vegetables) and mixed with rice.

Filed Under: Ingredients, Vegetables

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Comments

  1. ferdinand guanzon

    July 12, 2010 at 7:23 am

    i already eat Burdock, harvest from China, is this kind of Burdock really nutritious?

    Reply
    • benjamin

      July 14, 2010 at 4:53 pm

      Not sure where you live, but burdock is quite easy to grow in the midwest (you can even forage for it). I find this burdock to be better than the stuff imported from china, that stuff doesn’t seem to fresh.

      Reply

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A food blog brought to by Koshiki Yonemura. After almost two decades of running a restaurant in St. Paul with my husband, I now operate a boutique travel company, teach cooking classes and share recipes on this blog. Please leave a comment or send a message. I'd love to hear from you!

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Tonkatsu
Can't go wrong with fried pork 😁  うまっ😋  Serving: 2 people  INGREDIENTS:
¾ pound pork loin (cut into two large slices or four smaller slices)
1 cups of panko bread crumbs
¼ cup four
1 egg, well beaten with a tablespoon of cold water
Salt and pepper  2 cups of vegetable oil for deep frying  For the home-made Tonkatsu sauce:
2 tablespoons Worchester sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce  DIRECTION:
Make the sauce by mixing the Worchester sauce, ketchup, and soy sauce in a small saucepan.  Heat the sauce until everything is well-combined.  Keep it warm.  Cut pork into either two large slices or four smaller slices.  The meat should be about ¼ inch-thick.  Tenderize the meat if necessary and cut slits into any fat or membrane so the meat will not curl as it deep-fries.  Lightly salt and pepper the pork. 
Dust the pork in flour, dredge them in egg mixture, then press them onto panko bread crumbs.  The pork should be covered completely in bread crumbs.
Heat the oil to 300 F and fry the pork one at a time, turning it as it brown's about 3 minutes total.  Take the pork out of oil and dry it in an oil drying rack or paper towel. 
Cut the pork into strips and serve them hot with home-made Tonkatsu sauce.  #cookjapanesefoodathome
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#friedpork
Join me Feb. 2 for a free virtual Tonkatsu class. Join me Feb. 2 for a free virtual Tonkatsu class. 
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