jadesfood
This deep fried lotus root also known as Renkon Karaage is crispy outside and a bit crunchy but soft inside. Lotus root is quite popular and common ingredient in Japanese cuisine. It is normally used to make stew or stir fry, but you can enjoy the uniqueness of the vegetable by deep frying it sa well. In Japan, “Karaage” which normally is a fried chicken is so popular that there are lots of Karaage shops here, but Karaage batter is versatile and can make pretty much anything delicious, so I thought lotus root karaage would be great and the result was amazing! You should definetely try this recipe if you can get some lotus roots.
What is lotus root?
Lotus roots is a type of vegetables which is a staple ingredient an many Asian dishes, especially in China and Japan. As you may notice by it’s name, this vegetable is the root of flower, water lilies, therefore, it grows in mud and has earthy aroma. The shape is quite boring and you might think it’s like a yam or a kind of potatoes, but the most notable character of this vegetable lies inside of it. As the photo below shows it has some holes inside and the holes make the texture of lotus root unique.
Ingredients you will need
Lotus root – You can buy it in Asian grocery stores nowadays.
Garlic powder and Ginger powder – They are used to season the batter, you can also use grated garlic or ginger in place of powdered ones .
Soy sauce – The main seasoning for a karaage batter. You can use any brand of soy sauce, but Japanese ones are recommended .
Flour – Cake flour is prefered to use in Karaage in Japan because of the lightness of it makes the batter crispier, but plain flour works well too.
Potato starch or Corn starch – They can make your Karaage crispier because of the lackness of gulten. If you want very light and crispy Karaage, you can replace plain flour with starch and make the batter only with potato starch or corn starch.
Oil – In Japan, rice bran oil is popular for deep frying, but any oil that has high smoke point is perfect!
Deep Fried Lotus Root (Renkon Karaage)
Equipment
- 1 bowl
- 1 pot
Ingredients
- 300 g Lotus root (cut into 1 cm wide)
- ½ tsp Garlic powder
- ½ tsp Ginger powder
- 2 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Water
- 2 tbsp Plain flour
- 2 tbsp Ptato starch or Corn starch
- Oil for Frying
Instructions
- In a large bowl, put lotus root peices and all wet ingredients and stier well. You can let it sit for a while to marinate the lotus root if you want.
- Add flour and corn starch in the bowl and combine them to make sure all the lotus root pieces are completely coated with the flour.
- Fill a pot with enough oil for deep frying and heat it to around 170C(338F). Fry the lotus root until they become golden amber colour making sure you don't overcrowd the pot, which can cause the oil temperature to drop too low and that make your fried food greasy.
