Burdock and Mushroom Rice

Last Updated November 5, 2021

A delicious and simple one-pot meal with rice, burdock and Portobello mushrooms.

In keep with my promise of trying out one new vegetable every month, this time it is Burdock root! Put aside the many benefits of burdock root, simply introducing one more vegetable into our diet means more variety, when it comes to good eating, I believe variety is the king!

Burdock can be cooked in many different ways. In Asian cooking, it is a long tradition to steam root vegetables, and burdock is particularly suitable for steaming. Since it is pack with dense fiber, it is not that easy to over cook it. So here it is, a one pot meal full of earthy flavor and good dietary fiber, and a vegan risotto in Chinese home-cooking style.

Don’t forget to check my post on a couple of handy tips on preparing burdock for cooking.

BURDOCK AND MUSHROOM RICE

(牛蒡蘑菇蒸饭）

MAKE 4 servings PREP: 10 min COOKING: 20 min

Ingredients

• 250g (or 0.5 lbs.) burdock roots
• 2 Portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 200g medium-grain rice, washed and well-drained
• 300g water or stock
• 2 carrots (optional), sliced
• 2 tbsp olive or coconut oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp of true Mirin (see Recipe Notes for substitutes)
• toasted sesame seeds or sesame oil

Method

1. Thinly slice the burdock roots, then submerge the slices , as soon as possible, in a big bow of water to prevent browning.
2. Measure 300g of water or stock, mix with the soy sauce and Mirin, set aside. Drain the burdock slices and pat dry.
3. Heat a thick-walled wok (see Recipe Notes), add the oil, stir-fry the burdock slices for one minute. Push the slices to the side to expose the center of the wok, add the rice in the middle, cover the rice with the burdock slices, add the water or stock mix, then add the mushrooms and the carrots on the top.
4. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover the wok, turn the heat to medium, simmer for 10 minutes. Mix the rice and the vegetables, add another 1/2 cup of water or stock, simmer until the rice is cooked. Serve with a dash of sesame oil.

Recipe Notes

1. For this recipe, a thick-walled cooking vessel like a cast-iron wok will help to cook the rice evenly. I used a wok also to get the liquid concentrate at the bottom therefore cover all the rice initially. If you are using a pan, you will likely need more water to cover the rice. More added water, the softer the rice. But it could work well if you prefer softer rice.
2. If you don’t have true Mirin (you won’t find true Mirin in the cooking sections of grocery stores), substitute it with a real fruit wine that is naturally sweet with an alcohol content of around 12% to 18%, such as sweet Sherry, Riesling or Kuei Hua Chen (桂花陈). If you don’t want to use any alcohol, use vinegar and sugar, 2 teaspoons each instead to add the depth to the flavor.