Why have ordinary potato crisps (chips for the Americans) when you can turn it up a notch and use beautiful lotus root.
Some people have a sweet-tooth, but I have what I call a salt-tooth. It’s an easy way to say I love savoury things. Offer me a fresh doughnut or some olives and I will always pick the olives.
So when it comes to making quick simple treats that bring me salty joy, then I reach for the lotus root! For those who don’t know what lotus root is, it’s an Asian vegetable, it has loads of vitamins, it’s visually beautiful and it’s healthy.
But this isn’t a recipe for healthy eating as i’m still making deep fried crisps. If you want to impress with homemade fancy nibbles instead of store bought potato crisps, then give these a go. You can pick up Lotus root at most Asian supermarkets. The Wing Yip is my go-to here in the UK and if you haven’t been and are near one then please go!
You’ll also need a deep fat fryer and kitchen towel for this recipe.
Ingredients:
- Lotus root
- Sunflower oil
- Seaweed salt (I use Cornish Sea salt co. savoury Umami)
How To Make Lotus Root Crisps
Peel the root and then slice it thinly so you have nice circles about a few millimetre thick.
Rinse the slices under water in a colander and then shake of excess water and pat dry with kitchen towel.
Now every deep fat fryer is different, so use your own judgement but for me, I have a very basic one and all I have to do is heat my oil to 160 degrees. When the oil is up to temperature I carefully put the root in the basket and equally carefully lower the basket into the oil, shutting the lid and letting it fry for then about 6 minutes or until golden.
Then I turn my fryer off, gently drain the basket and pour the root onto wadded kitchen towel to pat off the excess grease.
while they are still hot, shake on your seaweed salt and serve. They are fine cold too. Now eat with gusto!
dav
Chronically Lea 