This is my attempt to recreate the Spicy Burdock Salad found at Delica in San Francisco. If I could be “in love” with a salad, this would be the one! Even though it’s called Spicy Burdock Salad, it really isn’t that spicy at all!
I first tasted this heavenly salad several years ago during my first visit to the Ferry Building Marketplace. During my most recent trip to farmers market, I made sure I had lunch at Delica again. I wasn’t disappointed!
Since my most recent trip was right before the New Year, I decided to make this salad for my in-laws Japanese New Years Day gathering. Thankfully, I found the salad girl of Say Yes to Salad also loves this salad as much as I do, and she had a version of the recipe on her blog. Her version was a great starting point for helping create my version of this salad.
I believe her recipe left out some key ingredients, like lotus root, mizuna, and mirin. I do think it’s important to include the all three. The lotus root and mizuna have great taste! If you can’t find mizuna use arugula, and water chestnuts are a suggested substitute for lotus root, but I REALLY think lotus root is a key ingredient 🙂
Burdock root on the left, lotus root on the right.
One ingredient that may be hard to find is konnyaku, (Japanese yam) I have asian markets, like Mitsuwa nearby. If you don’t have an asian market near you, substitute with another vegetable, or leave it out. The konnyaku is included more for texture, than taste.
Here’s a picture of the sliced burdock, and carrots, the square, purplish item is the konnyaku.
The bulk of this recipe is the prep work of peeling, cutting, and chopping the various ingredients. And yes, it takes about an hour if you’re a “slow chopper” like me. I promise it’s worth the prep time! After the prep and the short cook time, it needs to marinate overnight and then it’s ready to be devoured!
The original recipe recommended green lentils, but I used french lentils instead. I prefer french lentils because they’re less likely to get mushy!
Honeychick Homestead 