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Kung Pao Lotus Root

October 10, 2016 20 Comments

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A great vegan choice of the famous Kung Pao Chicken–great flaov Kung pao lotus roots.

kung pao lotus roots

Lotus root is my husband’s favorite vegetable as he is from Hubei province, where lotus root dominate the market in this season. It is the stem of the plant lotus. You may heard of the beautiful lotus flower. It has a crunchy  texture with sweet-tangy flavor and extremely in China.  It can be quite expensive due to the difficulties of pulling it out from the muds. The common cooking ways of lotus root in Chinese cuisine include stir-frying, stewing in soups or make salads. It goes unbelievable well with various Szechuan sauces.

Kung pao sauce, famous because of the universal chicken dish–kung pao chicken is a well balanced spicy taste used in Sichuan cuisine.  Besides kung pao chicken, we widely use it in our daily cooking with several other chicken substitutes (mushrooms, potatoes, tofu and lotus root used in this recipe).

There are two ways of pre-cook the lotus root. You can cook them in boiling water for 2-3 minutes and drain to get a very crunch and crisp texture of the final dish or you can choose to fry them firstly to slightly soften the slices. But I still recommend the second method as it can create very small holes on the surface, which further help to absorb the flavors.


 Ingredients

400g Lotus root, peeled and cut into 1 cm thick pieces
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 small thumb ginger, sliced
1/2 cup of toasted or fried skinless peanuts
4 scallions, white part and green part separated
6-10 dried chili peppers (change the amount according how hot you wish it to be)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
15-20 whole Sichuan peppercorns

Stir fry Sauce
1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil

kung pao lotus roots

Water starch
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

kung pao lotus roots


Instructions

Peel the skins and then cut lotus root into 1cm thick pieces.

kung pao lotus roots steps-8

Heat up oil in wok or pan, and fry peanuts until crisp firstly.

kung pao lotus roots

Then fry the lotus root slices for 2-3 minutes until soft and slightly browned on the edges. Transfer out and keep the oil.

kung pao lotus roots

Heat oil in wok and fry garlic, ginger, dried pepper, Sichuan peppercorn and scallion sections over slow fire until aroma.

kung pao lotus roots steps-6

Place cooked lotus root pieces in and stir in stir-fry sauce.Simmer for 1 or 2 minutes over slowest fire; add water starch and continue cooking until the sauce is well thickened.Add toasted peanuts and give a big stir-fry to mix everything well.

kung pao lotus roots

Garnish chopped scallion white and serve with steamed rice.

kung pao lotus roots

5 from 4 votes
Print
Kung Pao Lotus Root
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
5 mins
Total Time
15 mins
 
Well balanced Kung pao lotus root using famous Kung Pao sauce
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Sichuan
Keyword: Kung Pao, Lotus Root
Servings: 2
Calories: 608 kcal
Author: Elaine
Ingredients
  • 400 g Lotus root , peeled and cut into 1 cm thick pieces
  • 2 garlic cloves , sliced
  • 1 small thumb ginger , sliced
  • 1/2 cup of toasted or fried skinless peanuts
  • 4 scallions , white part and green part separated
  • 6-10 dried chili peppers , change the amount according how hot you wish it to be
  • 2 tbsp. cooking oil
  • 15-20 whole Sichuan peppercorns
Stir fry Sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tbsp. vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. sesame oil
Water starch
  • 1 tbsp. cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp. water
Instructions
  1. Peel the skins and then cut lotus root into 1cm thick pieces.
  2. Heat up oil in wok or pan, and fry the lotus root slices for 1-2 minutes until soft and slightly browned on the edges. Transfer out and keep the oil.
  3. Heat oil in wok and fry garlic, ginger, dried pepper, Sichuan peppercorn and scallion sections over slow fire until aroma.
  4. Place cooked lotus root pieces in and stir in stir-fry sauce.
  5. Simmer for 1 or 2 minutes over slowest fire; add water starch and continue cooking until the sauce is well thickened.
  6. Add toasted peanuts and give a big stir-fry to mix everything well.
  7. Garnish chopped scallion white and serve with steamed rice.
Nutrition Facts
Kung Pao Lotus Root
Amount Per Serving
Calories 608 Calories from Fat 324
% Daily Value*
Fat 36g55%
Saturated Fat 4g25%
Sodium 1678mg73%
Potassium 1698mg49%
Carbohydrates 61g20%
Fiber 17g71%
Sugar 6g7%
Protein 18g36%
Vitamin A 3410IU68%
Vitamin C 95.4mg116%
Calcium 162mg16%
Iron 5.1mg28%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

kung pao lotus roots

Filed Under: Recipes, Vegan

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  1. Robin S says

    October 3, 2017 at 1:32 am

    This was amazing !!! We didn’t have many lotus root so we added a package of mung bean sprouts to fill in. Absolutely delicious. We typically don’t eat meat so to have a Sichuan dish that vegetarian is even better!! I’ll use this sauce /technique again for stir frying veggies when I want to make them spicy and delicious.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      October 8, 2017 at 3:47 pm

      I agree that vegetarian and vegetable Sichuan dishes are even bette than meat, though less famous. Those dishes appear on our daily table frequently.

      Reply
  2. Don Montano says

    July 17, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    I tried frying up the lotus pods in a similar recipe just to see if they were edible. My Lotus flowers are huge! The Lotus root is quite large. While the flavor was good the texture was very fibrous and inedible. Is it because my Lotus pods are simply so large? I have a very large pond with huge flowers.
    Do I need to harvest the current flowers to find the more tender pods?
    There are some smaller flowers (not many) that I could focus on.

    What do you recommend with the little knowledge of my situation. I would love to share my Lotus with many locals. Maybe my weather is the problem. I live in Bakersfield, CA where hot summers prevail.
    I appreciate any advice
    Thank you for the opportunity.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      July 20, 2018 at 8:52 pm

      Don,
      I am quite sorry that I cannot help with this problem. I asked lots of people around me but they failed to figure this out in details. I have less knowledge about the growing and harvest of lotus plants.

      Reply
    • Madhu says

      September 25, 2018 at 5:46 am

      this is lotus root. Not the pods or any part of flowers.
      Lotus roots are starchy.

      Reply
  3. Lexy says

    November 5, 2018 at 1:32 pm

    So. I have a “weird” question.
    Can lotus root be steamed and therefore made mushy-like?
    -I love mashed cauliflower (I steam it until slightly mushy) and I’m curious how mashed lotus root would be!-

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      November 6, 2018 at 8:16 am

      I have tried to smash lotus root, but it sounds possible as long as the lotus root is cooked very soft.

      Reply
  4. Julie Barber says

    November 12, 2019 at 2:07 am

    What is the unit for the lotus root? 400 grams?

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      November 12, 2019 at 10:40 am

      Yes.

      Reply
  5. Amarie says

    March 11, 2020 at 7:01 am

    5 stars
    Absolutely love the recipe. Made it and added sliced chicken breast and rice wine. Amazing! 😉

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      March 11, 2020 at 8:57 am

      Thanks Amarie! Happy cooking!

      Reply
  6. C.J. says

    May 18, 2020 at 12:36 am

    5 stars
    This was excellent! I had to cook my lotus a little longer than stated to get it to soften and brown. I had to cook it in two batches with more than 2 tbsp of oil. It was a lot of cornstarch for the small amount of liquid. Gave kind of a « breaded » texture to the finished dish. I wasn’t sure if that was intended, or if next time I should add more liquid to the sauce, I’ll have to play around with it. The flavor was amazing! I may tweak a couple of things next time (more Sichuan peppercorns!) but the technique is perfect and preparing this dish made my family very happy.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      June 5, 2020 at 8:42 am

      Thanks C.J. for such a lovely comment. If you feel cornstarch is too much, slightly add more water to adjust the thickness. Happy cooking!

      Reply
  7. Helena says

    May 22, 2020 at 7:14 am

    I can’t wait to try this. My husband is allergic to peanuts so I will have to pass on that ingredient. Is there a replacement for the peppercorns?

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      May 23, 2020 at 7:50 am

      No. Unfortunately, Sichuan peppercorn is the best part and essential ingredient for Kung pao flavors.

      Reply
    • Hailey Byers-Balmer says

      September 17, 2020 at 9:21 pm

      5 stars
      Sometimes if I’m feeling very lazy, I use prickly ash oil instead of whole Sichuan peppercorns. It doesn’t taste quite the same, the tingling Ma flavor is sharper, but it gets the job done.

      Reply
  8. Hailey Byers-Balmer says

    September 17, 2020 at 9:23 pm

    5 stars
    I’m very happy I tried this recipe. It’s so delicious and easy that we eat it several times a month now. Sometimes if we’re feeling sassy, we put lap cheong sausage in this dish, too.

    Reply
  9. Steven says

    November 20, 2020 at 11:44 pm

    I have never cooked lotus root, but I’ve always wanted to. Not sure if you read these, but when you said the ingredients called for 400 lotus root. Does that mean I will need 400 slices of lotus root? And if so, what is your advice on getting that many? Sorry to bother you; I’d really love to make this recipe b/c it looks a.

    Reply
    • Steven says

      November 20, 2020 at 11:46 pm

      *Because it looks amazing.

      Reply
    • Elaine says

      December 2, 2020 at 8:42 am

      It is 400g lotus root. Not 400 slices. My fault.

      Reply

Hi, Welcome!

Please not be limited by site name, as Elaine shares Chinese recipes beyond Sichuan dishes. Know me more from About Page

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