Ideas for a dish with lotos rootlets?!
But now my boyfriend wants me to try to cook them the way they are used in the Asian cuisine, and I have no idea whatsoever what to do with them. Any sugestions?
Answers: I don't like Asian food, but my boyfriend is dying for it. Last week he shopped at an Asian shop and brought home a jar of pickled lotos rootlets. I tried them: they have a very distinctive texture, but a neutral taste (they taste of the lemon juice used for conserving them, with a very faint own aroma, similar to asparagus). I tried them as a substitute for pickled cucumbers in a tzatziki, and we both liked the outcome - not like the original, but tasty in its own way.
But now my boyfriend wants me to try to cook them the way they are used in the Asian cuisine, and I have no idea whatsoever what to do with them. Any sugestions?
Pineapple Cucumber Lotus Rootlet Quasi-Kosambari
Crunchy Stuff: Approx 8 cups of small diced pineapple, 4-5 cups of small diced small persian cucumber,
3 cups of 1.5 inch pickled lotus rootlet pieces;
The TaDka: 1 green chilli in pieces, 1.5 inch piece dry red chilli or equivalent, 2 stalks worth of curry leaves, 2 tsp mustard seeds, large pinch hing, 1.25 tbsp peanut oil.
Toss the chopped fruit and veg together. Make the taDka -- heat peanut oil, add dry red chilli, wait a few moments, add mustard seed, when they start to pop, add green chilli and curry leaves. Take off the heat as curry leaves just start to crimp up. Pour tadka over fruit etc, toss. Go back to full time lazing. Add v. little salt just before serving. Garnish with scary look Thai red chillis.
My Fried Oysters and Asian Salad Roll
Ingredients (for 3-4 serves)
14 fresh oysters, shucked
2 tbsp corn flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
? cup dry breadcrumbs
Oil, to pan-fry
3-4 Vietnamese-style baguette (or French baguettes)
Shredded lettuce (I used the curly variety)
Pickled lotus rootlet, as needed
Asian herbs (choose from coriander, Thai basil or mint)
Fresh chili slices (optional)
? cup mayonnaise*
2-3 tsp wasabi paste
Method
For the wasabi mayonnaise, mix together wasabi and mayonnaise. Set aside.
Dip the oyster in flour, shake off the excess, then into egg and finally breadcrumb. Lightly fried in heated oil until golden.
Quickly heat the baguettes in the oven if desired. Halve the baguettes and spread with a layer of wasabi mayonnaise. Lightly season with salt & pepper. Arrange the shredded lettuce and pickle veggies. Top with fried oysters, some Asian herbs, chili and extra mayo if desired. Serve immediately.
(*) I chose mayonnaise with less vinegar taste. If you can get Japanese mayonnaise, it will be great, too.
Vegetables
Cut up the vegetables into whatever size you want. Slice "hard" vegetables like carrots and broccoli reasonably thin, otherwise they may not cook through.
Heat up a little canola oil, or whatever you like to stir-fry with, in a deep pan or wok. Put the harder vegetables in first, and cook them hot, stir-frying them to keep them from getting burned. When those are starting to soften, turn down the heat a touch and add the "softer" vegetables, like squash and mushrooms. Add a little more oil if you must, and stir-fry everything until the new vegetables start to get tender. When they're done, so are you.
The vegetables I like to use in this recipe is pretty similar to the stuff I like to steam. Yellow & zucchini squash, zucchini peel (not kidding; try it!), white mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, broccoli, broccoli stem sticks, lotus root or rootlets, bamboo, bean sprouts, cabbage, and carrots are the most common ones. Because lotus is very tough and fiber-y, I parboil them for about 10 minutes before frying them.
I usually use fresh lotus roots in tempura-style fritters, soups and stir-fry vegetables. The best way to use pickles though is to stir-fry them with water chestnuts if available, broccoli florets and sugar snap peas with a sauce consisting of oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice wine or dry sherry, and sesame oil. Do drain the lotus root pickles and rinse them before adding to the vegetables.