A great vegan choice of the famous Kung Pao Chicken–great flavor Kung pao lotus roots. Have you ever tried lotus root? Louts root is a crunchy vegetable that is so incredibly delicious. Previously I have tried to match kung pao sauce with cauliflower, and king oyster mushrooms. For me, the vegan kung pao dishes are even better than the worldwide popular kung pao chicken.
What’s Lotus root ?
Lotus root “莲藕” is a very popular ingredient in China, all across 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 gives us a very treasure lotus root, lotus seeds, and beautiful lotus flower. Lotus root has won the popular as a vegetable on the table. Lotus seeds, whether eaten fresh or dried to make dried lotus seeds, 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.
Kung Pao Sauce
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).
Ingredients
Lotus root – peeled and cut into small diced. Before the stir-frying, we need to blanch the lotus root in boiling water for 1 minute.
Toasted crispy peanuts – you can skip this or use a store-bought shortcut version.
Aromatics – garlic, ginger, and scallion. The three help to enhance the flavor of the dish.
Dried chili pepper – the red color and spicy taste of dried chili pepper are essential elements of kung pao dishes
Sichuan peppercorn -this is the special ingredient in kung pao dishes, which yields both numbing sensation and spicy flavors to kung pao chicken
Kung Pao Sauce – kung pao sauce provides the basic flavor of this dish.
Instructions
Peel and cut lotus root into small dice around 2-3 cm in diameter. Bring a large pot of water, add a small pinch of salt, and blanch the lotus root for 1 minute. Transfer out and drain.
Prepare the kung pao sauce.
Heat oil in a wok and fry garlic, ginger, dried pepper, Sichuan peppercorn, and scallion sections over slow fire until aroma.
Place cooked lotus root pieces in, fry for another minute.
Pour in kung pao sauce, add peanuts, Garnish chopped scallion white, and serve with steamed rice.
Kung Pao Lotus Root
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
Kung Pao 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
- 1 tbsp. cornstarch
- 2 tbsp. water
Instructions
- Peel and cut lotus root into small dice around 2-3 cm in diameter. Bring a large pot of water, add a small pinch of salt, and blanch the lotus root for 1 minute. Transfer out and drain.
- Prepare the kung pao sauce and all the other side ingredients.
- Heat oil in a wok and fry garlic, ginger, dried pepper, Sichuan peppercorn, and scallion sections over slow fire until aroma.
- Place cooked lotus root pieces in, fry for another minute.
- Pour in kung pao sauce, add peanuts. Continue frying to make sure the sauce is well coated on each of the cubes. Garnish chopped scallion sections. Mix well. Serve hot.
Nutrition
this was my first time cooking lotus root so i was a little nervous, but this is delicious! Thank you for the further info on pre-cooking them!
Thanks Amanda. Yes, this lotus root is super crispy and yummy in this sauce. I am so happy to hear your good news. Happy cooking.
J’ai trouvé pour la première fois des racines congelées.
Je vais donc les préparer suivant ta recette.
Est-ce que les beignets de lotus c’est bon????Si oui, peux-tu m’offrir la recette?? Merci par avance et gros bisous . Chris 06
Hi! Can this recipe work if I only have dried lotus slices from the grocery?
No, Andy. Dried lotus root can’t work for this one.
What kind of vinegar do you use for the sauce? I have black vinegar and rice vinegar.
Black vinegar is a better choice.
Hi Elaine,
I have some dried Lotus root slices. Do I need to rehydrate them before using? If so do I use hot or cold water and for how long?
I have never tasted Lotus Root before so I’m really looking forward to trying it.
Thank you.
Paul 🙂
Everywhere I’ve ordered this, the lotus root comes in circular honeycomb-like slices. I don’t think there’s any reason to waste time chopping it up. In fact, at the Asian market I go to you can buy it pre-sliced and boiled so that it will stir-fry better.
Yes，that’s a great point! Using pre-sliced and boiled lotus root can definitely save time and make cooking easier. The honeycomb-like slices add a lovely texture to dishes as well. Thanks for sharing your experience and tips!