I gave the matter some grave thought, and realized that after last night’s martini party there was nothing in my icebox except a bit of baking soda, a scrap of blueberry jam and a twig of burdock root.
Miss Lenni Jabour, The Story of The Third Floor (December 2002 edition)
I remember playing with burrs (the flowers of the burdock plant) as a kid on walks through the woodlots near my parents’ place, but hadn’t thought much further about them until seeing the text quoted above in Lenni’s story today. The things you’ll learn from reading (with a dash of Google):
- After experimenting for eight years with plastic models that he designed to mimic burrs, George de Mestral created Velcro.
- Only buy your burdock root from a reliable supplier; at least one has been known to substitute belladonna.
- The burdock root has many medicinal uses, such as using it as a treatment for scurvy.
- Burdock root is known in Japan as Gobo (not to be confused with Gobo Fraggle). It
is considered an intensely yang vegetable
. - The most common burdock dish in Japan (and hence the world) is kimpira gobo (sauteed burdock), a slightly spicy carrot and burdock stir-fry.
I think I’ve found a project for when I go home at Christmas. It’s been a while since I was back in those woods….
Gobo (burdock root) is utterly delicious. Tastes like a cross between good sweet roasted carrots and sauteed portobello mushrooms. Here’s a good recipe:
_Takikomi Gohan_, a burdock dish
2 cups rice
A 4″ strip of kelp
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
About 1/2 lb firm tofu, sliced thin and
then deep- or panfried till crisp outside.
One whole burdock root, washed
1/2 a large carrot, sliced thin
Soy sauce to taste
Ginger to taste (optional)
Soak mushrooms in water till rehydrated. Cut up fried tofu, gobo, and carrot. Prepare rice for cooking, adding all the veggies and using the
mushroom-soaking water as part of the liquid.
When rice is done, remove kelp and chop finely. Add chopped kelp and(if desired) slivered ginger to the rice, and mix well. Leave covered for a
while, then serve.
Also check out Judith Berger’s book _Herbal Rituals_ for an excellent recipe for burdock gravy. Makes wonnnnderful veggie pot pie!