Kinpira Gobo
きんぴらごぼう · Kinpira Gobo
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Kinpira gobo is one of the most familiar side dishes in Japanese home cooking: thin strips of gobo (burdock root) and carrot cooked in a lightly sweet soy-and-dashi sauce and finished with sesame. Gobo has an earthy flavor and a pleasant crunch, and it is a good source of dietary fiber. For the preschool kitchen we cut the vegetables into short, thin strips so little mouths can chew them easily, add shirataki noodles for a soft, slippery bite, and simmer everything in dashi before seasoning so the vegetables turn tender and the flavor stays gentle rather than salty.
Wheat-free, but uses soy sauce (made with wheat). Japanese school-lunch allergy menus usually allow it, so check with your doctor. How to read the labels
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 19.5 gcarrot
- 15 ggobo (burdock root)A long, slender, earthy-tasting root vegetable with a pleasant crunch, usually scraped rather than peeled. Substitute: Parsnip or carrot.
- 10.5 gshirataki noodlesTranslucent, nearly calorie-free noodles made from konjac yam, with a slippery, chewy texture and neutral taste. Substitute: Glass noodles (mung bean or sweet potato starch noodles)
Seasonings
- 2.3 gvegetable oil
- 75 gdashi stockJapanese soup stock, usually made from kombu (dried kelp) and/or bonito flakes; the base of most Japanese soups and simmered dishes. Substitute: Instant dashi granules dissolved in water, or a mild unsalted chicken or vegetable stock.
- 1 gsakeSake (Japanese rice wine) is used in small amounts to soften the smell of fish and meat and add depth. Japanese "cooking sake" often contains added salt. Some alcohol can remain after short cooking. If you prefer no alcohol for children, use the substitute. Substitute: The same amount of water (the taste will be a little simpler), or dry white wine.
- 0.8 gsugar
- 1 gsoy sauce
- 1.2 gwhite sesame seeds
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- gobo (burdock root) (ごぼう)
- A long, slender, earthy-tasting root vegetable with a pleasant crunch, usually scraped rather than peeled. Substitute: Parsnip or carrot.
- shirataki noodles (しらたき)
- Translucent, nearly calorie-free noodles made from konjac yam, with a slippery, chewy texture and neutral taste. Substitute: Glass noodles (mung bean or sweet potato starch noodles)
- dashi stock (だし汁)
- Japanese soup stock, usually made from kombu (dried kelp) and/or bonito flakes; the base of most Japanese soups and simmered dishes. Substitute: Instant dashi granules dissolved in water, or a mild unsalted chicken or vegetable stock.
- sake (酒)
- Sake (Japanese rice wine) is used in small amounts to soften the smell of fish and meat and add depth. Japanese "cooking sake" often contains added salt. Some alcohol can remain after short cooking. If you prefer no alcohol for children, use the substitute. Substitute: The same amount of water (the taste will be a little simpler), or dry white wine.
Directions
Video is in Japanese and may show a different version of this dish (other ingredients or steps). Follow the ingredients and steps on this page, especially when cooking for allergies.
- 1
Cut the carrot and gobo into short, thin matchsticks.
- 2
Cut the shirataki noodles into 1 cm lengths.
- 3
Heat the vegetable oil in a pot and stir-fry the carrot and gobo from step 1. Once they are coated in oil, add the shirataki from step 2, the dashi stock, sake and sugar, and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
- 4
Add the soy sauce and white sesame seeds, and stir-fry until the cooking liquid has evaporated.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 51 kcal | 102 kcal | 51 kcal |
| Protein | 1.2 g | 2.4 g | 1.2 g |
| Fat | 2.8 g | 5.7 g | 2.8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 5.9 g | 11.7 g | 5.9 g |
| Fiber | 2 g | 3.9 g | 2 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.3 g | 0.6 g | 0.3 g |
| Calcium | 39 mg | 78 mg | 39 mg |
| Iron | 0.3 mg | 0.6 mg | 0.3 mg |
| Potassium | 165 mg | 330 mg | 165 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 51 kcal | 1.2 g | 2.8 g | 5.9 g | 2 g | 0.3 g | 39 mg | 0.3 mg | 165 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 102 kcal | 2.4 g | 5.7 g | 11.7 g | 3.9 g | 0.6 g | 78 mg | 0.6 mg | 330 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.





