Crushed Burdock with Sesame Dressing

Japanese Cooking A Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuji
Cookbook 50, Recipe 2 (total 104)

Burdock can be interesting to work with. It's usually raw or just barley cooked.


Did I like it? Not so much. The burdock really picked up the flavors of the dashi - kombu and bonito flakes. I think I would have enjoyed it more without the dashi simmer - skip right to sesame dressing.

Recipe: Scrub 4 medium burdock roots and pound them slightly flat. Cut in to 1.5 inch long by 1/4 inch thick pieces. Cover with cold water and 1.5 Tablespoons vinegar - let stand for 1 hour. Rinse well and place into a pot with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 4 minutes. Drain and place into ice water. In the same pan place 1 1/4 cups dashi, 2 T mirin, 2 T soy sauce and 1/2 tsp salt, bring to a simmer and add the burdock. Simmer for 3 minutes and turn off the heat - cool in dashi. In a mortar and pestle pound 3T toasted white sesame seeds. Pound in 1.5 T dashi, 1 T sugar, 2 T vinegar and 1/2 T Soy sauce.