Chinese-style marinated Lotus root and Nagaimo 長芋と蓮根の中華風マリネ

I had a portion of nagaimo in the refrigerator. I had to make something out of it before it went bad. I found this recipe on line and it looked interesting. It is nagaimo and lotus root first deep dried and then soaked in a Chinese style marinade.



I followed the recipe fairly closely.

Ingredients:
Nagaimo: I had a nagaimo about 3 inches long. I removed the skin and cut it into 1/4 inch think half moon shaped slices. I immediately soaked the slices in cold water with rice vinegar added (just a splash).

Lotus root: I used a segment about 3 inches long of packaged, prepared lotus root.  I sliced it into half moon shapes about the same thickness as the nagaimo.

Vegetable oil for deep frying.

For marinade: water (100cc), honey (1 tbs) and soy sauce (1 tbs), salt a small pinch, and star anis (one).

I removed the excess moisture from both the nagaimo and lotus root slices using a paper towel and deep fried it as is for 3-4 minutes at 320 F.

Meanwhile I heated up the marinade until all the ingredients amalgamated.  I drained the oil from the deep fried lotus root and nagaimo and placed them in the hot marinade. I let it cool to room temperature and placed it in a sealable container and refrigerated it overnight.

I served the dish cold. The marinade is rather strongly flavored of star anise and a bit sweet to my taste ( I used buckwheat honey which may have a much stronger flavor than regular honey). I may reduce the honey and increase the soy sauce next time. The texture of the nagaimo was nice and soft with no characteristic sliminess. The lotus root was still firm and crunchy. A good small dish with sake. I think, though, I may like this dish with Japanese flavorings (soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar) better.