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
This looks amazing! Just wondering if there’s anything that I can substitute with Beer? I dont have that readily available in my kitchen unfortunately and I dont like drinking beer by itself so am reluctant to buy one…
Thank you, Judy for posting this recipe. My parents are Shanghainese and as I crave their cooking, your blog is one of the few that has a lot of recipes I haven’t eaten in years! This recipe and the gluten stuffed meatballs are ones I can’t wait to make.
Hehehe…so nice to hear that! Please let us know how you like our recipes.
Hi Judy,
I ended up making a successful vegetarian version of this using textured vegetable protein + silken tofu + egg mixture and it turned out very well. Such a treat! I wish I could attach a photo of how it turned out : )
Thank you for the recipe!
Hooray! That’s awesome :-)
Thanks for sharing the recipe! I will make this for chinese new year :) The thing is I have to serve about 40 pax on CNY day 1 with about 5 other dishes. May I know if this can be prepared or made in advance?
Hi Linda, you can prepare everything up until frying the night before, and fry them right before serving.
Thanks for sharing the recipe and tips. My father in law made this whenever we came to visit them in Wuhan. It became my favorite dish. He taught me how to make it but when I tried it myself, the lotus slices fell apart and broken before adding the filling. I look forward to make it for my son in memory of my father in law. Thanks again.
That’s so nice, it’s a great CNY dish! Your father in law would be proud!
My mother used to take the lotus root and cut one end to make it flat but leaving no holes open. Stand it upright and stuff sweet rice grains into the holes.Some times a chopstick would be used to shove the rice into the small hole. She would steam them until just a bit crunchy. Cut into thin slices and then fry with black wood ear, chinese mushrooms, and carrot. All i remember was that it was very labour intensive and an act of love.
Not sure if this was Shanghainese or a Ningbo dish.
When Mom arrived in Canada it was 1946. The only Chinese food available was rice, bok choy, and China Lily soy sauce. She had to make her own tofu. Chinese bread for bbq pork buns, red bean paste for sweet rice balls. It wasnt until 1970’s that we had more access to chinese foods.
Thank you so much for sharing, Donna. I’ve never seen a lotus dish like the one your mother used to make. Making me wonder how many wonderful dishes have been lost and are gone forever. I wish more would take the time to write down their family recipes!
I remember my grandmother and mother making this, as well as a variation on it using Chinese eggplant instead of lotus root. I’ve made the eggplant one before, but while they were tasty, I don’t think it was quite as good as the ones my waipo made.
Hi Joyce, hope you will give this recipe a try and let us know how you like it. Thanks.
Thank you, going to try this for chinese new year in a few days and am wondering, do we have to use beer? Is there another substitute that might work?
You can try club soda.
I love these! I’d like to make them for a dim sum spread, but there will be a lot of other things on the table, so I was wondering- how long can these sit without losing quality? Do they have to be piping hot, or are they still good at room temperature? Thanks!
Hi Sarah, they are still good at room temperature, but a lot better when they are piping hot.
Hi, Woks of Life!
Your site is amazing; I been working my way through it ever since a large Asian supermarket open up on my corner, making finding ingredients so much easier.
I tried this recipe because it was so different and interesting!
Alas, I discovered I really don’t like lotus root so much. :(
I did, however, love how tasty and crisp the batter was, so I’m wondering if you have used it successfully in other dishes? Other protein? Other veggies?
And thank you for such a terrific site!
Hi Marcy, I guess lotus root is not for you :-) Can’t say I’ve used this batter in other dishes, but what a good idea if you use it to fry green beans, cauliflower or maybe zucchini.
Terrific ideas! Thank you!
Is it possible make these ahead of time or how much can be prepped beforehand?
Hi Sandra, you can prepare the meat filling the night before.