Lotus Root, Wakame and Salmon Roe Salad

Danny’s Lotus Root Salad

  • Danny’s Lotus Root Salad
  • Danny’s Lotus Root Salad
  • Danny’s Lotus Root Salad

NOTES

Contains specialty ingredients, head to your Japanese market to find Lotus root, seaweed and salmon roe.

INSTRUCTIONS

Take the 25g of dried seaweed and let soak in room temperature water for a half hour.

In a shallow sauce pan, toast some sesame seeds to a light golden color in a drop of sesame oil for a few minutes. Set them aside to cool as you will need these for the seaweed later.

Using a scrubber or a vegetable peeler, scrub the carrot and the lotus to remove the skin.

Boil some water and slice the lotus root very thin. Boil for no more than one minute to dispel some of the starch but sure to maintain the crisp texture.

Strain the lotus root and in a bowl add a dash of rice wine vinegar.

Cut off a 2” piece of fresh ginger root, mince and add to mortar and pestle. Smash the ginger up, and add to a paper coffee filter. Twist to tie off the top of the filter, and squeeze to force ginger juice through the filter and into a cup. Toss gently with lotus root and allow to sit. The lotus root will absorb all the ginger and vinegar.

Strain excess water from seaweed.

In a separate bowl, combine seaweed with toasted sesame seeds. Add an oz of rice wine vinegar and a half ounce of sesame oil and toss gently.

Plate the lotus root, the seaweed and salmon roe separately and invite guests to combine the flavors and textures as they wish. If you are vegetarian/vegan, just omit the salmon roe, and substitute with avocado.

Garnish the lotus root with grated fresh carrot and the seaweed with finely chopped “Nira” chive. Add a touch of soy sauce to the seaweed to compliment it’s natural salinity.

RECIPE

DIFFICULTY

MODERATE

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SERVES

5

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PREP TIME

15 MINS

Salad

  • 1 
     
    Lotus Root
  • 25 
    grams 
    Dried Wakame seaweed
  • 1 
    small container 
    Salmon Roe
  • 2 
    pieces 
    “Nira" - a Japanese garlic chive. (Regular chives can be substituted just fine.)
  • 1 
     
    small carrot, peeled
  • 1 
    2" 
    piece ginger root
  • 1 
    tsp 
    untoasted white sesame seeds

Dressing

  • 1 
    tbs 
    toasted sesame oil
  • 1 - 2 
    tsp 
    unsweetened rice wine vinegar
  • 1 
    tsp 
    Tamari or soy sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

Take the 25g of dried seaweed and let soak in room temperature water for a half hour.

In a shallow sauce pan, toast some sesame seeds to a light golden color in a drop of sesame oil for a few minutes. Set them aside to cool as you will need these for the seaweed later.

Using a scrubber or a vegetable peeler, scrub the carrot and the lotus to remove the skin.

Boil some water and slice the lotus root very thin. Boil for no more than one minute to dispel some of the starch but sure to maintain the crisp texture.

Strain the lotus root and in a bowl add a dash of rice wine vinegar.

Cut off a 2” piece of fresh ginger root, mince and add to mortar and pestle. Smash the ginger up, and add to a paper coffee filter. Twist to tie off the top of the filter, and squeeze to force ginger juice through the filter and into a cup. Toss gently with lotus root and allow to sit. The lotus root will absorb all the ginger and vinegar.

Strain excess water from seaweed.

In a separate bowl, combine seaweed with toasted sesame seeds. Add an oz of rice wine vinegar and a half ounce of sesame oil and toss gently.

Plate the lotus root, the seaweed and salmon roe separately and invite guests to combine the flavors and textures as they wish. If you are vegetarian/vegan, just omit the salmon roe, and substitute with avocado.

Garnish the lotus root with grated fresh carrot and the seaweed with finely chopped “Nira” chive. Add a touch of soy sauce to the seaweed to compliment it’s natural salinity.

Daniel Kent is the honorary mayor of our neighborhood and the friendly face behind the bar at Locanda Vini e Olii.  He also happens to live above the restaurant, so if you are looking for him, you can usually find him at the corner of Gates and Cambridge Place in Brooklyn, greeting small children, puppies, the mailman or the local cop on any given afternoon (after his regular early morning surf at Rockaway Beach). Once the sun sets, I strongly suggest you visit Locanda and sample some of Daniel’s homemade liquors, paired down with their impeccable Tuscan cuisine. He brews his own herbal vermouths, a number of bitters, an elderflower liqueur, a walnut liqueur, a seasonal Chinato and a citron liqueur, and he knows a thing or two about wine as well. It was no surprise that he went to the extra length to pair this salad with some craft Japanese beer when I came over.

He also had a few tricks up his sleeve that I have to acknowledge. The use of a Japanese vegetable brush to wash and lightly slough-off vegetable skin was so elegant, I just bought one of my own. And, he made his own concentrated ginger juice by squeezing ginger through a brown paper coffee filter. That’s my kind of life-hack.

Daniel may have found his ideal live/work geo-coordinates, but he has called many-a-place home: born in Japan, raised in Wisconsin, a stint in Indonesia, and most importantly, Florence where he received his Master’s degree in Italian Literature. For those of us who don’t like to leave the neighborhood, we take great pleasure in his cosmopolitan ways, not to mention his generous use of the Italian language.

Daniel Kent in His Own Words

Julia: How does salad figure into your daily life?

Daniel: I eat my greens every day. Keeps me regular!

Julia: Why did you choose to do a Japanese salad and not something Italian? Do you often cook Japanese food when not at the restaurant?

Daniel: I eat and cook Italian food at least once daily and therefore love a chance to try something new. I would say my true school of cooking comes from a Tuscan tradition – where I lived for many years and work very closely with here in New York City. This cuisine prides itself on simplicity and a vivid expression of very few ingredients. I think a similar philosophy is found in excellent Japanese cooking and it is something I would really love to explore.

Julia: How do you say “seaweed” in Italian?

Daniel: In Italian “seaweed” is “alga” or often plural “algae”