ゴボウ金平 (Gobo Kinpira)

ゴボウ金平 (Gobo Kinpira) is usually served as a side dish to accompany other dishes as part of a meal, and I usually see it in bentos as well. Gobo is apparently the root of the greater burdock (whatever that is). It is VERY easy to find in Japan, is consumed widely, and is relatively cheap. My version of gobo kinpira is basically strips of gobo cooked with strips of carrots. Sometimes the Gobo is very dirty as it is a root. However, if I can wash all the dirt off and get the peel relatively clean, I don't peel my Gobo to try and retain more vitamins. But if it looks too dirty or you're not a fan of rooty things, feel free to peel the gobo root before you cut it up.



Makes 4 nice side dish servings
Ingredients:

2 ゴボウ, gobo root, stalks. They are usually sold like this. Washed and cut into thin bite size pieces.
About 6 small, or 4 large carrots. Cut into thin bite size pieces
Oil, a tad bit for frying
みりん, sweet fermented rice wine, about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons
焼酎, shochu alcohol, (optional) about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons
Soy sauce, about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoon, I think
Sesame seeds, a tablespoon should suffice

In a large pot or frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the strips of Gobo and mix quickly so it doesn't burn or stick to the pan. Fry and mix for about 2 minutes and immediately lower the heat

Add the mirin (rice wine), the shochu (optional), and mix this around to cover the Gobo well. Cook like this for a few minutes, until the Gobo seems well covered and the mirin and alcohol have evaporated some. You can pick the heat up for just a bit if needed to speed things up, but return to low heat.

Add the carrot strips and pour the soy sauce over everything. Mix well to cover everything. Continue cooking at low heat, making sure nothing sticks to the pan. It is done when the Gobo strips are no longer hard, but not too soft either.

Turn off the heat, add the sesame seeds, mix well again. Serve. Simple and easy.