Hi everybody!

Do you feel like braising something? Here you go!

[laughs] This is in Korean: Yeon-geun. In English it's called lotus root.

What a great name. So beautiful, isn't it?

I'm going to braise this.

Yeon-geun-jorim. Braised lotus roots.

It's not easy to find really good quality lotus roots.

Beautiful and smooth and without any blemish.

The other day I went to the Korean market I found:

"Hmm, nice looking! I should make this."

Actually this is one of my cookbook recipes.

This is not an everyday side dish like kimchi or soybean sprouts.

This is a special side dish.

Whenever I make this, especially for my Western friends, they really love it.

Because visual: really pretty, and when they taste it, irresistible for them.

Lotus root. It sounds very mysterious.

"What does it taste like?" And then they taste: "Oh, amazing!"

It tastes like between the potato and radish.

And a little crispy, but shiny, and chewy!

I like to choose one. Which one do you like better?

I'm going to peel the skin and then slice, the outcome should be really beautiful circle.

So you can check out like this. This is a circle? Sometimes you will see almost a triangle shape.

It's not pretty when you make this.

You need to find that kind of really round shape so that when you slice this, nice beautiful round shape.

I will show you!

I'm going to peel the skin.

This guys weighs about one pound and four ounces.

Around six hundred grams.

I'm going to cut thinly.

It should be a quarter inch thick.

It has a lot of vitamin C, vitamin B, it can lower your blood pressure, circulate blood well,

Funny thing is that I found somebody says this can clear your mind!

[laughs] Already sounds mysterious, doesn't it?

When you cut this, if you saw it, it will be easily broken.

So make up your mind first, and then just one stroke.

Like this.

I will soak this in cold water.

Now i'm boiling water.

I'm going to blanch this.

Starch came out, so the water is a little milky.

Here I will add vinegar.

About one teaspoon.

This root is very tough, so we need to blanch first and then later we have to braise for a long time.

The reason I added a little vinegar

Is that, the taste is a little astringent.

So to remove that kind of taste we add a little vinegar.

And also vinegar makes the color whiter.

Five minutes I'm going to cook.

Five minutes passed!

Water turns a little cloudy.

And this is white, beautiful, gorgeous, isn't it?

And also a little sticky, a little slippery.

I will just use this same pot to braise.

Now we have a really heavy, clean pot here, and also sliced lotus, a little blanched, all are ready!

And then. just seasoning sauce I'm going to add, and braise.

Garlic cloves, two or three garlic cloves.

How many garlic cloves do you think I use today?

You are wrong! I will use two!

[laughs] You thought three, right?

Let's turn on stove.

Pan is heated. I will add vegetable oil, one tablespoon.

I'm going to stir fry with a little vegetable oil.

Only just a few minutes stir, until this lotus root is a little translucent.

[sizzling]

We are going to add some water here, two cups plus quarter cup.

Two...

Garlic...

And soy sauce, quarter cup.

So these slices are submerged in this water.

And then cover.

Then turn down the heat over low heat.

Forty minutes I'm going to braise.

Forty! Four zero!

[jazzy music]

[wind blows]

This is rice syrup.

Brown rice syrup I will add this around three quarter cup.

Ok, like this...

Still some water is inside...

Nice.

Rice syrup.

Sometimes you should open the lid.

It depends on your heat, sometimes water quickly boils off.

In that case you can add water.

Important thing is I'm going to braise this another twenty minutes.

[wind blows]

Twenty minutes passed!

It should be really nice, let's open!

We can let it boil off this liquid until it's fully cooked and also a little shiny and it looks like jelly.

I used rice syrup here.

If you don't have rice syrup use just sugar.

You see the color is getting darker and darker.

This process is very important to make it really beautiful.

Because I want it to be really shiny.

You don't have to keep stirring.

Once in a while you can turn it over

So that it's all evenly brownish and shiny.

So beautiful!

Ten minutes I just boiled off this liquid.

Now really pretty.

I'm really tempted to do more, but I like to stop.

Last touch, we need sesame oil.

Sesame seeds.

When you serve this, we don't serve like a mountain

Just a small amount.

So you can serve this with rice and other side dishes.

Or you can use this for a luncbox side dish.

Just one or two.

And with other side dishes.

And rice. It will be really pretty.

Leftover...

It will be a good mitbanchan.

Mitbanchan means that you can keep it in the refrigerator, then you can enjoy it until it runs out.

Let me taste!

Mmm...

M.

I love this texture! it tastes like a little crispy jelly.

Sweet, a little salty.

If you guys happen to see beautiful, handsome-looking lotus root

Pick it up, and make this. You will love it.

Today we made yeon-geun-jorim.

Braised lotus roots.

Enjoy me recipe.

See you next time! Bye!