Fried “Renkon” Lotus Root with “Aonori” dried seaweed (laver) レンコンの磯辺揚げ

In the past, we could not get fresh “renkon レンコン” lotus root. We could only get packaged boiled renkon. Occasionally we got fresh renkon from our Japanese grocery store or Hmart (through Instacart). We are now getting fresh renkon any time we want from Weee.

Although renkon is called “lotus root” and written in the Japanese kanji ideogram “蓮根” meaning “lotus root”,  renkon is actually the “stem” not the root of the plant. I have posted quite a few renkon dishes in the past. When I receive fresh lotus root, I separate the segments, clean and dry the surface, wrap the individual segments in paper towel, vacuum pack, and refrigerate. With this preparation the renkon will last at least a few weeks or more. But sometimes I become complacent and let them sit in the refrigerator too long and the vacuum packed renkon goes bad. This time, I wanted to make sure I used up the renkon in time. So using the longest segment we got with this batch, I immediately made two renkon dishes, this is one of them. 

This is a variation of fried renkon chips made with onori 青海苔” called isobe-age*.  I got the inspiration for this dish from e-recipe website. I made a batter of cake flour, water and Japanese aonori. I shallow fried it and served it with kosher salt. This is a perfect small appetizer with the lovely salty briny smell and taste of aonori and the crunch of renkon.

* Aonori is dried seaweed also known as green laver.  When it is used in a dish the name of the dish includes the word “Isobe 磯部” (meaning “rocky beach”). This is because the briny smell of the aonori is reminiscent of the briny ocean smell characteristic of the rocky beach where it grows. So this dish I made is called “Isobe a-ge 磯辺揚げ” (or literally rocky beach fry).

This is not a recipe per se but a note to myself.

Ingredients:
3 inch long segment of fresh renkon, peeled and parboiled (for 3-4 minutes). This will prevent the renkon from breaking into fragments when sliced. 

Batter:
3 tbs. cake flour
1 tbs. dried “aonori” flakes
4 tbs. water (I used cold water from the refrigerator. The amount of water is just enough to make a pancake batter consistency).

Vegetable oil (enough to cover the frying pan bottom about 1/2 inch deep) for frying.

Directions:
Cut the renkon lengthwise in half, slice 1/4 inch thick crosswise to make half-moon shaped pieces.
Add the renkon slices to the batter to coat.
Add the oil to a frying pan on medium flame.
Make sure the oil is hot (test by dropping a small amount of batter into the oil. It should start sizzling immediately).
Add the renkon and fry for 4-5 minutes until slightly brown, turn it over and cook for a few more minutes.
Place the fried pieces on a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle on some salt.
Serve immediately.

These heat up well in the toaster oven—they actually got crisper. 

You can have variations of this dish. You can fry the renkon pieces as is for renkon chips, or dusted with flour, or regular tempura batter. By add a leavening agents (baking soda, baking powder) and/or beer instead of water to make the batter the fired renkon becomes a renkon fritter.