A Dinner of…….Burdock Root?

Turning Over My Kitchen…

As I type this, Chloe and Joseph are in the kitchen making dinner. Anyone who regularly cooks knows what a treat it is to have someone spell you from the job. Even if cooking is your thing, having a break is nice. Better still when you’re getting a meal that is not only amazingly tasty but amazingly authentic to its ethnic roots.  Bonus points in my book if it includes ingredients I’ve never eaten in my life, like burdock root. As a biologist, I can identify burdock in the field, but eat it? I can safely say that has never happened. Until today.

Wait. This Is Going To Become Dinner?

Burdock root is one of those items I saw in the Asian supermarket and asked Joseph to identify. He described how it was used in different dishes, but it looked inedible to me. My curiosity and unconvinced expression might have been the impetus for the inclusion of burdock root in today’s menu. He’s a detail person, like me, so it wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case.

I hang around the kitchen watching how the root’s prepared for cooking. The kitchen is small and three people is definitely a crowd, so I hover in the doorway. Joseph won’t let me in anyway because he knows I enjoy the rest from cooking. So when he’s in charge of the kitchen I just stand and watch. Joseph and Chloe work in tandem. He sets the task he needs her to do and she goes about doing it. Buzzing back and forth between the stove and the prep table, he watches how she’s progressing.

So there the brownish colored burdock root sits on the cutting board. It varies from a half inch to just over an inch in diameter, and it’s about 3 feet in length. It  looks like something we just dug up from the backyard. I’m skeptical, but if this dish turns out like other food Joseph has cooked, I won’t be for long.

How To Prep Your Burdock Root

Step one in the preparation process is removing the brownish skin from the flesh with a spoon. The flesh starts to oxidize immediately. To prevent that, Joseph has Chloe throw the root into a saltwater bath he’s mixed up in a large bowl. At this point in the process I look in amazement at Joseph. How many 18 year old young men do you know who have that knowledge base of cooking?! I know exactly one and I’m writing about him.

So we move on to the second step of burdock root prep, which is slicing. Joseph expertly cuts a thin slice off the length of the root and then cuts it into smaller pieces. He monitors Chloe’s initial slices. Gently admonishing her to be careful and not cut herself, he then moves back to the stove to cook the beef slices.

My house takes on the aromas of Asian cooking as Joseph and Chloe work side by side. They enjoy the unique companionship that comes with creating a meal together. I wander back to my keyboard in the dining room, smiling as I listen to them tease and laugh.

Dinner Is Served! Come Get Your Burdock Root!

In a short while, Joseph comes to the dining room table bearing a bowl filled with burdock root and beef slices. I hear the subtle note of pride in his voice as he asks me to sample it. I grab my chopsticks and pull out a piece of beef and burdock. It’s delicious. I don’t know what he cooked the beef in, but it’s a little salty, a little sour, and the crunchy burdock root is the perfect foil for it. Slightly crunchier than bamboo shoots and having a similar taste, it adds a contrasting texture to the beef and enhances and absorbs the sauce it’s cooked in. Amazing. I’m already plotting where in the refrigerator I’m going to hide my portion that will become tomorrow’s lunch.