Jul 1, 2025

Kinpira Gobo きんぴらごぼう (Burdock Root Cooked In Japanese Seasonings)

Some people like to soak the gobo, that's burdock root in Japanese, in water once peeled and cut. By doing so, it can help the burdock root from turning to darker color. But please don't bother for this recipe, especially we are going to cook the burdock root in soy sauce, that means eventually the whole thing will get a brownish hue in the end anyways.


Kinpira gobo きんぴらごぼう - 


Kinpira gobo きんぴらごぼう


Ingredients?

  • 1 medium burdock root
  • 1 medium carrot
  • 300 grams ground pork
  • 2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sake (Japanese rice cooking wine)
  • 1 tablespoon mirin
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar


How?

Peel and cut the burdock root to strips, just like julienne it. Peel and cut the carrot to strips too. I used a grater instead for the carrot to save more time and energy, not a fan of prepping carrot with knife here.


Grating carrot

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of sesame oil to the pan and switch to medium heat. Once warmed up, add in ground pork and stir-fry till it changes to somewhat white color, like 90% cooked-through.


Stir-frying ground pork in sesame oil

Add in burdock root strips and carrot strips. Mix once a while and cook for about 5 minutes.


Making kinpira gobo, which is burdock root cooked in Japanese seasonings

Add in the main seasonings for this classic Japanese recipe, which is soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. The ratio is about 2:1:1:1, but I did use more sugar for a sweeter taste. This dish is supposed to be on a slightly sweeter side in case you never tried it before.


Stir-fry and cook for another 5 more minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. It should be somewhat sweet and savory to the taste.


Kinpira gobo きんぴらごぼう

Towards the end, mix in toasted white sesame seeds. Scoop to serving container and enjoy.


Kinpira gobo きんぴらごぼう

This dish can even served cold or under room temperature. 


Kinpira gobo きんぴらごぼう

When traveling in Japan, sometimes you'll find kinpira gobo as one of the side dishes in a bento box. In which the bento is usually served cold or under room temperature, since Japanese don't necessarily heat up their bento boxes most of the time. So to enjoy this dish cold, no problem.


Other recipes using burdock root:


Jun 25, 2025

Lychee and Apple Black Tea 荔枝蘋果紅茶

Auntie gave us a bag of lychee, just the kind of take-home gift that I love! So besides enjoying the fresh and plump lychee as it is, we even got more to splurge on fruity black tea.


Lychee and apple black tea - 


Lychee and apple black tea


Ingredients (about 3 to 4 servings)?

  • 10 to 12 lychee
  • 1 to 2 apple (1 big one or 2 medium sized apples)
  • 4 cups fruity scented black tea
  • Some ice cubes 
  • Some simple syrup (optional)
  • Some honey (optional)


How?

Brew the black tea of your choice. I used wakoucha here, which is a type of Japanese black tea. Store the tea in the fridge till cold. You can prepare the tea a day before.


Brewing black tea the day before

Peel and remove the seeds from the apple. Slice the apple to medium size chunks and add to a blender or food processor. Also pour in 1/2 cup of brewed tea. Blend till smooth.


Blending apple juice with pulp

Peel off the bumpy lychee skin and remove the seed in the center. Repeat for all the lychees and transfer the sweet flesh to a cup. Beat till the flesh break down to smaller bits, and lots of juice flows out.


Lychee juice and flesh

Of course you can just use the food processor to do the job, especially if you're aiming for smaller pieces of fresh lychee when enjoying the tea.


Have your serving cup or glass ready, add 2 tablespoons of lychee juice along with 2 tablespoons of the lychee flesh. Also add 2 tablespoons of apple juice with plup. Fill 1/3 or up to half of the cup with ice cubes.


Lychee, apple, and ice cube base for the fruity black tea

Pour the cold black tea all the way up. Stir and give it a quick taste. If sweeter taste is preferred, consider adding some simple syrup or second best choice honey to the tea.


Lychee and Apple Black Tea

To make the simple syrup, mix together equal amount of sugar and drinkable water. You need to use low heat to warm up the water so that the sugar will dissolve completely. Try to store the simple syrup in the fridge and wait till cold before use in drinks.


Lychee and Apple Black Tea

I didn't add any extra syrup or honey for my tea. The natural sweetness from the plump lychees I got was enough. Also when biting into the lychee flesh, you'll get a a sudden pop of sweetness from it, really enjoyable. 


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