Like many good recipes, this one came together purely by chance. I had lotus root in the fridge, I read the inspiration chicken recipe linked below and I wanted pork. All this combined to make a really delicious and unusual pork dish, though L. has requested that I slice the lotus thinner next time.
Lotus can be bought at any Asian grocery store, either fresh, precooked or pickled. I happened to have a precooked piece of it on hand that I had bought with which to make pickles. For this recipe, I just drained it from the water it came conserved in, rinsed it well and sliced it.
This would be good with chicken or, were you going the vegetarian route, mashed tofu in the place of meat. And the original recipe linked below would be, I think, delicious in cocktail party portions. Or make the pork part of this dish, finish cooking the meatballs in the sauce and omit the lotus root. Or simply make a vegetarian side dish of the lotus root cooked in the sauce. There are many options when considering making this recipe.
This makes 8 stuffed lotus bundles (the photo below was taken after L. and I each scarfed one) and serves 2 as a dinner main course or 4 people as an appetizer
1 piece lotus root, about 8 oz
1 lb ground pork
2 tsps sesame oil
1 Tbsp chopped ramps or garlic scapes or 1 shallot finely chopped
½ cup hot sauce (Like the original recipe, I too recommend Franks)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbsps rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Salt to taste
Put the hot sauce, vinegar and brown sugar in a small saucepan over low heat. Allow to cook, stirring from time to time until the brown sugar has melted. Set aside off the heat.
Cut the lotus root into 16 rounds of equal thickness.
Lightly mix the pork, sesame oil, shallot or ramp and some salt in a bowl. Gently form 8 loose meatballs of equal size.
Sandwich each meatball between 2 slices of lotus root, pressing gently so that the lotus adheres to the meat.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan. As soon as it sizzles, add the lotus-pork bundles and cook for 2 minutes on each side to add a tiny bit of color. When you flip the bundles over do so gingerly so that the lotus root continues to stick to the meat.
Lower the heat, pour over the sauce and cook for an additional 3 minutes per side. Remove from the sauce before serving though I do recommend dribbling a little of the sauce over the top. delicious with Asian steamed rice.
Inspiration recipe, here.
