I’ve had readers requesting this recipe for a while now, so firstly…sorry it’s taken us so long to post this! We’ve been waiting for Chinese New Year to make this srispy stuffed lotus root recipe, at a time when they are available in abundance at your local Asian markets. These tasty little fried meat sandwiches are deliciously savory, crispy, and crunchy.
I remember eating this for Chinese New Year when I was little. It was a special dish, because in those days, fried foods were only made during special occasions. Oil was very expensive and also required special oil stamps. That was China in the 70’s and 80’s. Pretty much any day-to-day household product required stamps (as well as money) to buy. There were coal stamps, cotton stamps, tofu stamps, grain stamps, etc. If you wanted to buy a 10 pound bag of rice, for instance, you’d need to give the cashier money, as well as a certain number of 粮票 (grain stamps). The number of stamps for each category was assigned based on family size and family members’ ages.
I’m starting to sound like a raving old lady, but I’m glad that those days are long gone and those stamps have become nothing more than collectibles. So go ahead and make this dish any time you want! As long as the fresh lotus roots are available, live large!
Aside from the fact that this stuffed lotus root recipe is really delicious and tasty, I should also say that it is a bit labor intensive. You’ll have to trim and cut the lotus roots, mix the meat filling, assemble, and, lastly, double-fry them. So I’m expecting all of you hard-core Chinese food devotees out there to roll up your sleeves with this one!
Now let’s give it a go!
Recipe Instructions
Stuffed Lotus Root Step 1: Make the meat filling
Put all of the meat filling ingredients (ground pork (or ground chicken), Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce (生抽), water, sesame oil, cornstarch, white pepper, scallion, and ginger) in a mixing bowl. Stir in one direction for about 5-10 minutes until the meat mixture becomes a very sticky paste. Set it aside.
Stuffed Lotus Root Step 2: Assembly
Before we start, let me demystify how to cut the lotus root. The “proper” way is the cut the lotus root into ¼-inch thick pieces. Then, you slice it right in the middle but not all the way through, so the two parts are still attached. The goal is to create a “clam shell,” so the whole thing stays intact, even after frying.
I found it to be quite difficult, because the lotus root breaks easily (it’s crunchy when raw, similar to a potato). I succeeded with some, but for the broken pieces, I just sandwiched them together with the meat filling. As long as the meat filling is prepared correctly, the “sandwich” should not fall apart during frying. So we’re going to go with the easier method of just slicing the lotus roots all the way through.
Peel, wash, and cut the fresh lotus roots into 1/8-inch slices. Rinse the lotus root slices in cold water to wash away excess starch and so they don’t turn black (again, they’re similar to potatoes). Drain. It’s best to spin them in a salad spinner to get rid of all the excess water.
Take one slice, and spread on a thin layer of meat filling. Top it with another slice of lotus root to create a sandwich. Gently press the two slices together so the meat filling fills the holes of the lotus root on both sides This step will “lock” the two slices together. Repeat until you’ve used all of the slices. You should be able to make about 15-18 pieces.
Stuffed Lotus Root Step 3: Make the batter
Add both the all purpose flour and the sweet rice flour, salt, and five-spice powder to a mixing bowl. Slowly add the water, stirring constantly. Stir thoroughly until any lumps have dissolved. Then stir in the beer. This batter is pretty light. You can thicken it by adding a bit more flour if you like a heavier batter. Also, stir the batter between dipping each lotus root piece, as sweet rice flour tends to settle quickly.
(Don’t coat the lotus roots until right before frying. If too much liquid gets in between the meat and the lotus roots by coating too early, they will fall apart in your pot of oil.) Speaking of which…
Stuffed Lotus Root Step 4: Frying
Now it’s time to prepare the oil for frying. I like to use a small, deep pot because it requires less oil and its depth helps contain the oil, avoiding splatters and burns.
Fill the pot about 1.5” deep with oil, and heat it to 275 degrees. Once the oil reaches 275 degrees, coat the lotus in the batter and slowly lower into the oil. Fry a few pieces at a time, frying each side for about 6 – 7 minutes. Take them out and set them aside on a plate lined with a paper towel. Repeat until all the lotus sandwiches are fried.
Now turn up the heat to bring the oil up to 325 degrees. Re-fry each piece for 3 minutes to really get the color and crunchiness that we are looking for.
Enjoy these crispy stuffed lotus root treats with the leftover beer from making the batter. Bill did!
I think I know why most restaurants in the US don’t offer this dish. It’s a lot of work! This stuffed lotus root dish is truly a labor of love, and I know it will help bring back a lot of memories for many of you! Cheers!
Crispy Stuffed Lotus Root with Pork
Ingredients
You'll need:
- 1½ pounds fresh lotus roots (680g)
- Oil (for frying)
For the meat filling:
- ¾ pound ground pork (340g; can substitute ground chicken)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water (60 ml)
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 scallion (very finely chopped)
- 2 slices ginger (finely minced)
For the batter:
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour (30g)
- ¼ cup sweet rice flour (30g; can substitute cornstarch)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon five-spice powder
- 1/3 cup water (80 ml)
- ¼ cup beer (of your choice)
Instructions
- Step 1: Make the meat filling
- Put all of the meat filling ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir in one direction for about 5-10 minutes until the meat mixture becomes a very sticky paste. Set it aside.
- Step 2: Assembly
- Peel, wash, and cut the lotus roots into 1/8-inch slices. Rinse the lotus root slices in cold water to wash away excess starch and so they don’t turn black (again, they're similar to potatoes). Drain. It’s best to spin them in a salad spinner to get rid of all the excess water.
- Take one slice, and spread on a thin layer of meat filling. Top it with another slice of lotus root to create a sandwich. Gently press the two slices together so the meat filling fills the holes of the lotus root on both sides This step will “lock” the two slices together. Repeat until you've used all of the slices. You should be able to make about 15-18 pieces.
- Step 3: Make the batter
- Add both flours, salt and the five-spice powder to a mixing bowl. Slowly add the water, stirring constantly. Stir thoroughly until any lumps have dissolved. Then stir in the beer. This batter is pretty light. You can thicken it by adding a bit more flour if you like a heavier batter. Also, stir the batter between dipping each lotus root piece, as sweet rice flour tends to settle quickly.
- (Don’t coat the lotus roots until right before frying. If too much liquid gets in between the meat and the lotus roots by coating too early, they will fall apart in your pot of oil.) Speaking of which...
- Step 4: Frying
- Now it’s time to prepare the oil for frying. I like to use a small, deep pot because it requires less oil and its depth helps contain the oil, avoiding splatters and burns.
- Fill the pot about 1.5” deep with oil, and heat it to 275 degrees. Once the oil reaches 275 degrees, coat the lotus in the batter and slowly lower into the oil. Fry a few pieces at a time, frying each side for about 6 – 7 minutes. Take them out and set them aside on a plate lined with a paper towel. Repeat until all the lotus sandwiches are fried. Now turn up the heat to bring the oil up to 325 degrees. Re-fry each piece for 3 minutes to really get the color and crunchiness that we are looking for.
Tips & Notes:
nutrition facts
First of all HI GUYS! It’s been more than a month since we last visited, and we finally found a little time to enjoy your blog:) From what we’ve seen so far on Twitter we’re in for a treat! We hope you’re all well and everything is going great in you lives!
Now on to this recipe; Judy this is definitely one of the most intriguing recipes for us. We never had lotus root before and even if we did see one sometime, we wouldn’t know what to do with it. Thanx to your clear instructions we now know and we’ll be on the lookout for it!
As for the ol’ days, it’s always so beautiful when you and Bill share your memories with all of us out there. It’s posts like those that make us feel so close to you. Thank you for that!
Have an amazing day guys, off we go to check the rest of your posts!
I just made these tonight for my family. It was so good! Thank you for the detailed instructions. I did have one issue. When frying the first round they stuck to the bottom of my pot. So one side was nicely coated with the batter and the other side had no batter. Any ideas on how to avoid this? Thanks again!
Hi Michelle, I can think of two possibilities: 1) your batter might be too watery 2) the oil might not be hot enough.
I made this today along with your tangerine beef recipe and some steamed buns, for our lunar new year celebration. Everything is spectacular!
Thank you so much, Jena! Happy New Year!
Can help me out by explaining why you instruct us to stir the meat in one direction when mixing? I have seen it before – but never asked why?
thanks!!!
I remember my dad making a soup out of lotus root and red dates…..and not liking it. I thought it was a grown up thing – flavor. I have not had it in years. Your recipe makes me want to try it :)
Hi Kallah, Stirring the meat in one direction gives the meat a nice sticky, yet smooth consistency. Skipping this step may result in a more crumbly filling which is not the desired experience. As for the lotus root soup, Judy has a post coming up so stay tuned if you want to give that a try!
I love lotus root. We get them in abundance this time of the year in the local markets here. We generally eat them steamed, use them in salads or roast them. Would love to see other less labor intensive, easy to prepare lotus root recipes. This looks great though.
This is definitely a special rendition using lotus roots, usually cooked for Chinese New Year meals.
Hmmm…. I love these. Unfortunately it’s not easy to find fresh lotus root where I live. I also like the eggplant version (same method but eggplant slices instead of lotus root).
I’ve never heard of the eggplant version. Sounds awesome!
HI Sara, We do have a stuffed eggplant recipe but it does not have a deep-fry step and uses only shrimp for the filling. Check out our Chinese Dim Sum Stuffed Eggplant HERE!
They look really nice, but I am vegetarian. Do you think I could substitute something for the meat?
Hey Lena…not really! I’m not too familiar with meat substitutes, but you kind of need the sticky texture of the ground pork to hold these together. Alternatively, you could just make the batter and then batter & fry plain lotus root slices.
Looks beautiful and although it may be labor intensive, your directions make it sound completely approachable
Thanks for another great recipie
Hey Laura, thank you so much! Hope you will make some for John. ^o^
We’ve been serving this in our izakaya for about 13 years! It’s a guest favorite. The cooks use tempura batter and the filling is the pork gyoza filling. Your version looks great too (but it’s a lot of work)!
Hi Lea, yea, I know, this is a special dish!
Looks amazing!
Thank you, Bianca!