Fry
Lotus Root Green Salad with Sesame Dressing
- Makes 2 bowls
Author Notes
This salad was inspired by the one I had at Yardbird (one of Top 50 Restaurants in Asia), Hong Kong recently. The sweetness of the lotus root and the nice patterns of the thinly sliced lotus roots just made me smile when the salad bowl was brought to the table. I love the way lotus root is used as topping instead of the usual croutons.
I didn’t have a slicer at home, but I managed with my knife : ) I don’t normally like deep frying but I surrendered for once and you are not using that much, the idea is like using the lotus roots instead of croutons. I actually tried to bake the lotus root slices in the oven at low temperature but they were not as crispy as I hoped. The lotus root shrinked a lot after frying.
Below a little dialogue between Marc and me:
Marc: Mommy, what are you doing?
Me: I am busy in the kitchen.
Marc: Can I help? Marc wants to help.
Me (frying the lotus root): It’s dangerous here, don’t come here!
Ouch, he touched the camera lens with his finger, of course it made me crossed and shouted at him.
Me: Don’t do that, Marc!!! You cannot touch this ! No, no, no! Mommy is working.
Dirty looks from mommy.
Marc: I am sorry! … I am sorry! I already said sorry! And came to give me a hug!
Mommy was melted and laughed again!
—Janet's Kitchen Lab
Ingredients
- For Salad
-
2 cups
Lotus Root
-
4 pieces
Little Gem Lettuce
-
1 packet
Lamb Lettuce
-
1 packet
enoki mushrooms
- Salad dressing
-
4 tablespoons
rice vinegar
-
4 tablespoons
soy sauce
-
2 teaspoons
sesame oil
-
4 tablespoons
black and white sesame seeds
-
1/4 cup
onion
-
1 tablespoon
mayonnaise
Directions
- Simply put all the ingredients of the dressing into a blender and whiz. You can make the salad dressing in advance and keep in the fridge for later use.
- Thinly sliced lotus root, soak in bowl of water with lemon juice or vinegar to avoid them getting dark.
- Heat up some cooking oil in a pan and fry the lotus root slices until golden brown and crispy. Place them on a plate, lying with kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Let them cool down and set aside.
- Wash and drain the little gem and lamb lettuce.
- Cut out the root parts of the enoki mushroom, wash and drain.
- Cut the enoki mushrooms into halves, put into a bowl and pour boiling water over it for 15 seconds, and discard the water using a colander, let it cool down for a while.
- To assemble, place the salad leaves and enoki mushrooms in a big serving bowl, toss in some dressing.
- Place the lotus roots on top, serve straight away.
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