Kinpira Recipe

A japanese recipe of braised burdock root and carrot in a sweet and salty sauce. The flavor of burdock root is earthy and, well, rooty, but with an intriguing blend of sweetness and bitterness that is similar to an artichoke, to which it is related. Its texture is both meaty and slightly crunchy with a pleasant chew. Kinpira is a Japanese cooking style that can be summarized as a technique of "sauté and simmer". It is commonly used to cook root vegetables such as carrot, burdock and lotus root, seaweeds such as arame and hijiki and other foods including tofu and wheat gluten, and even meat.