How To Cook Lotus Roots

I love lotus roots. However, the only way I've ever cooked it is in soup.


Well, DH once again passed to me a newspaper clipping of a recipe. This time it is for LOTUS ROOTS WITH FRAGRANT SAUCE. It tastes okay. I think next time, I will blanch the lotus roots first. I prefer it a little bit softer. Maybe I'm just used to having it soft like in soup. Also, I found the color of my dish is different from the picture in the newspaper. Mine looks more brown whereas the pix in the paper, the lotus root looks more yellow. Do you guys have the same experience of having your dishes NOT look like the pictures of the recipes you follow?

I am trying to locate the original recipe online but can't seem to find it. Well, here it is for your convenience:

LOTUS ROOTS WITH FRAGRANT SAUCE
INGREDIENTS:

• 400g lotus roots, cut into slices
• 1 onion, quartered
• 50g red capsicum, cut into strips
• 1 stalk spring onion, cut into 2.5cm lengths
• 8 dried chillies, cut into halves (I didn't want it so spicy because of the kids, so I just put in 1-2).
• 6 slices ginger
• 2 tbsp sesame oil

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp black vinegar
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp chicken stock powder
• 125ml fresh chicken stock
• 2 tbsp cornflour

HOW TO COOK:

1. Heat up sesame oil in your wok. Saute dried chilli until fragrant.
2. Add in ginger slices and onion. Stirfry for a while.
3. Add lotus roots and pour in the sauce.
4. Let it boil. Then add the capsicum and spring onion.
5. Stirfry to combine everything.

Here's another recipe that I tried today: LOTUS ROOT WITH SALTED EGG (Kam Heong Lotus Root)
I've had this before in a restaurant in Kepong. Absolutely fell in love with it. The lotus roots are crispy and the blend of garlic, curry leaves and salted egg is just heavenly. Have been wanting to replicate the dish at home and finally, I did. If you love the taste of salted eggs, you'll love this dish. I got my directions on how to cook this dish here.

Here's the recipe.
LOTUS ROOT WITH SALTED EGG
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lotus root. This dish above was from 1 lotus root as long as a pen. Slice it as thin as possible.
• Curry leaves
• 3-4 salted eggs.
• Minced garlic.
• Butter
• Red chilli, sliced thin. If your kids don't like chilli, maybe just use half a chilli or omit it entirely. 
• 2 parts rice flour to 1 part corn flour

HOW TO COOK:
Frying the Lotus Root

• After you slice the lotus root, boil it in a mixture of water and vinegar for about 5 minutes. Apparently it is suppose to stop the root from turning brown. 
• Drain the lotus root and pat dry with kitchen towel.
• Mix rice flour and corn flour together. The recipe I looked up uses tapioca flour. I didn't have that so I used rice flour-corn flour as it will also make the lotus roots crispy when fried.
• Coat the lotus roots with the flour mixture and then fry them in oil. Don't have to wait until it turns golden brown before taking them out. When I did that, the chips ended up a bit burnt and tasted bitter. Take them out as they are about to turn brown. You'll see that it will continue to cook after you take them out and you'll have that nice golden brown color after all. 
• Put aside your lotus root chips.

Getting the Salted Egg Ready

• According to the recipe I looked up, you crack the salted egg and scoop out just the yolks. After that you steam the yolks. I don't like the idea of wasting the egg whites. So what I did instead was leave the eggs uncracked and boiled them until cooked (like hard boiled eggs). After it was cooked, I just cut the eggs in half and scooped up the yolks.  Egg whites can be eaten by anyone who wants to.
• Mash the egg yolks.

Putting The Whole Dish Together

• Fry the garlic with butter. Add in curry leaves and chilli. Fry till fragrant.
• Add in the mashed egg yolks. 
• Toss in the lotus root chips and mix well.
• Add sugar and salt to taste.

So there you have it, 2 different ways to cook lotus root (besides just boiling it in soup).