Gobo (burdock root)

The first thing that needs to be said about this root vegetable is the obvious resemblance to Harry Potter's magic wand, don't you think? I have seen burdock root, commonly referred to as gobo (goh-BOH) in Hawaii, since forever at the local supermarket, always kept under protective cover with damp burlap bags. The only reason why I decided to experiment with this fibrous root just now is because I had read that it was the most "yang" vegetable in Zen macrobiotic cooking. Cool.

A senior at Hula Wednesdays was a great help in finding out how to cook gobo, giving me a few ideas to begin with. Pretty much treated like a turnip, it can be pickled or put into soups or stews such as nishime. Another method was to take short lengths of cleaned gobo, roll it in thinly sliced pork, and securely knot with softened strips of konbu (seaweed kelp). This is then simmered in a sugar/soy sauce mixture. The one dish that she suggested not to miss was kimpira gobo as shown below (I've also seen it spelled as kinpira gobo). A sort of stir-fry seasoned with sesame oil, dried shrimps, sugar, soy sauce, and chile pepper, I came across many versions for this recipe. The one I'll give at the end was taken from an old cooking pamphlet of my dad's.


The surprise however, was this recipe for Ahi (tuna) with Eggplant and Gobo in a Soy Mirin Glaze with Kalamansi Lime Butter Sauce. My brother, who shuns eggplant, agreed to play guinea pig and was actually okay with the citrusy, asian flavors that went into it. I had to make do with regular limes and simplified the tomato part, and my only gripe is that it gave no directions for the plate up. Therefore, I just piled it all atop a bed of white rice. Voila!

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Kimpira Gobo
½ lb. gobo, pared and julienned into matchstick size
1 dozen dried shrimp
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 fresh chili pepper (minced) or a good pinch of red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce

As you cut the gobo into julienne strips, place them in a bowl of cool water to keep from discoloring; soak for 30 minutes before use. Sauté the dried shrimp and gobo (well-drained) in hot oil for 5 minutes. Add chili pepper, sugar, soy sauce, and continue to simmer and stir over low heat for about 10 minutes until lightly caramelized. Serve as a vegetable sidedish.

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Burdock links:
Burdock - A Lion in Porcupine's Clothes
You Too Can Be A Burdock Convertock

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Saved comment(s)

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You're so right about gobo's resemblance to HP's wand! It's hard to believe one could make a meal out of such skinny twigs, but you certainly did, and how mouth-watering you made them look! The ahi tuna looks fantastic.
Tania | Homepage | 05.05.06 - 11:17 pm

I love kinpira... when I'm in Hawaii, I make mine with a little portugese sausage, gives it a little kick! Your dish looks really good.
Kat | Homepage | 05.04.06 - 3:01 pm

Rowena, you should be proud to have made such a yummy-looking thing out of "sticks" ;-)
Susan | Homepage | 05.04.06 - 11:57 am

Rowena, whenever I read one of your posts about the food of Hawaii I feel like I'm there! First of all you're right... it does look like Harry Potter's wand! (Speaking of which I hope J.K. Rowling is almost done with that 7th book!)

The dish you prepared looks incredible. And where would we be without brothers who are willing to be guinea pigs... I have one of my own!
Ivonne | Homepage | 05.04.06 - 4:36 am

I love coming here to oftentimes find food that i grew up eating, and can imagine the texture of it as i think of tasting one of my favorite root foods. Then i wonder what french people would do with it given the opportunity. Feed it to the pigs? Non!!!
ptinfrance | Homepage | 05.01.06 - 11:09 am