Lotus root is the magic vegetable I love the most. It is harvested in autumn traditionally but can be bought all the year. Traditional Chinese Medicine believe that lotus root is beneficial to stomach and lung, helpful for cooling down the body and controlling weight. The young girls love to drink lotus leaf tea or eat lotus root paste with the purpose of keeping fit. I recommend two ways of making yummy lotus root salad.

Lotus root salad|chinasichuanfood.com

Lotus root “莲藕” is a very popular ingredient in Chinese cuisine, all cross the country. It is the rhizome of the lotus plant, a magic vegetable with beautiful appearances.  The lotus plant is grown in mud but it give use very treasure lotus root, lotus seeds and beautiful lotus flower.  Lotus root has win the popular as a vegetable on the table. Louts seeds, wither eat freshly or dried to make dried louts seeds, which can be further used to make lotus root paste. It may have several small tubes adjacent to each other.  For the convenience of  transportation, the small tubes are broken to form two or three tubes together. 

Lotus root|chinasichuanfood.com
Lotus root salad|chinasichuanfood.com

In cold winter days, lotus root is a perfect ingredient for soups (lotus root and rib soup) And in summer days, it is the ideal ingredient for salads.

You will need

2 sections of lotus root

 Sauce I

  • 2 fresh Thai red peppers
  • 2 fresh green chili peppers
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 tsp. chopped ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. sugar
  • 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp. black vinegar
  • 1/2 tbsp. chopped scallion
  • 2 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
  • 1 small bunch of coriander

Sauce II

  • 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp. sesame oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 tsp. chopped ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. sugar
  • 1/2 tbsp. black vinegar
  • 1-2 tbsp. LaoGanma chili sauce or Chinese red oil
  • coriander and green onion for garnishing 

Steps

Remove the joining part, peel the lotus root and then thinly sliced.

Wash the slices under running water to remove the extra starch. This step can make the slices crunchier.

Lotus root salad|chinasichuanfood.com

In a large pot with enough water, add 1/2 tsp rice vinegar or lemon juice. Soak lotus root slices for 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boiling and then blanch lotus root slices for 1 minutes. Transfer out and soak the slices in chilled water until completely cooled. Drain.

Salad with sauce I

Drizzle light soy sauce, sugar, vinegar on the slices.

Lotus root salad|chinasichuanfood.com

Heat vegetable oil in a small pot, add peppers, garlic and ginger in. Heat over medium to slow fire until aromatic. Add coriander stem in and continue cooking for 10 seconds.

Lotus root salad|chinasichuanfood.com
Lotus root salad|chinasichuanfood.com

Pour the oil over the slices. Mix well and enjoy.

Salad with Sauce II

Lotus root salad|chinasichuanfood.com

Add all the other seasonings in the serving plate and serve directly. For this special hot version, you can use Lao Gan Ma crispy chili oil or homemade Chinese red oil.  However the later one contains no salt, so if you use Chinese red oil as a substitute, add a small pinch of salt in addition. 

Lotus root salad|chinasichuanfood.com

Lotus Root salad

Quick and easy lotus root salad for warmer days.
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2
Calories: 240kcal

Ingredients

Sauce I

  • 2 fresh Thai red peppers
  • 2 fresh green chili peppers
  • 2 garlic cloves chopped
  • 2 tsp. chopped ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. sugar
  • 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp. black vinegar
  • 1/2 tbsp. chopped scallion
  • 2 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
  • 1 small bunch of coriander

Sauce II

Instructions

  • Remove the joining part, peel the lotus root and then thinly sliced.
  • Wash the slices under running water to remove the extra starch. This step can make the slices crunchier.
  • In a large pot with enough water, add 1/2 tsp rice vinegar or lemon juice. Soak lotus root slices for 10 minutes.
  • Bring a large pot of water to a boiling and then blanch lotus root slices for 1 minutes. Transfer out and soak the slices in chilled water until completely cooled. Drain.

Salad with sauce I

  • Drizzle light soy sauce, sugar, vinegar on the slices.
  • Heat vegetable oil in a small pot, add peppers, garlic and ginger in. Heat over medium to slow fire until aromatic. Add coriander stem in and continue cooking for 10 seconds.
  • Pour the oil over the slices. Mix well and enjoy.

Salad with Sauce II

  • Add all the other seasonings in the serving plate and serve directly.

Nutrition

Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Sodium: 780mg | Potassium: 436mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 535IU | Vitamin C: 66mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 2.3mg

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7 Comments

  1. Hi Elaine,

    nice to see another lotus root recipe. I have a question on how “thin” you slice them. From the photos I’d guess between 2 and 4mm. Is that correct? Sometimes when cutting the bigger slices for the soup they break, as the lotus root is very rigid. Is there a trick to prevent the thin slices from breaking?

  2. 5 stars
    Hi Elaine,

    I made this salad with the second sauce using some self made chili oil. I really liked it. It is so nice and crunchy. It turned out that cutting the lotus root was not that hard after all, even though I didn’t manage to cut them as evenly as you do.

    Thank you very much.

  3. 5 stars
    My first time cooking lotus root. Made this today during a heat wave! Sauce 2. Perfect addition to our dinner! Will definitely be trying sauce 1 next time! Thanks for the recipe Elaine!