Burdock root ✦

Racine de bardane

What it is

Japanese records name gobō as food from the Heian period, and it is one of the few root vegetables Europe abandoned while East Asia kept it in daily use. A Swiss engineer who put its hooked burrs under a microscope in 1941 came away with the idea for Velcro.

In the kitchen

Scrape the skin with the back of a knife rather than peeling — the flavour sits just underneath — and drop each piece straight into acidulated water, because the cut surface browns within a minute. Twenty minutes of simmering is the minimum before it stops tasting woody.

Goes with

Carrot Toasted sesame oil Soy sauce Hon-mirin Sesame Chicken

Also used with

Fukujinzuke Seri (Japanese water dropwort) Mugi miso

In season alongside

Burgundy truffle Pine bolete Tome des Bauges Acorn Bay bolete Beechnut

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