Wasabi Mayo Burdock Salad

Tomorrow is National Personal Chef Day, so how about thinking about yummy food today(haha, for me as usual) and building a meal plan for a relaxing weekend? 

 

I’m not “professional chef” with a required license, but by thinking about the definition of “personal chef”, yes I am! 

 

What is a personal chef?

A personal chef will prepare meals for private clients in home kitchens or commercial kitchens depending on their client’s needs or preferences. This can be done daily or the meals can be cooked, frozen and reheated weekly. (Source: Culinary Lab)

 

Sounds like it’s what I do. I prepare meals for my husband everyday based on his needs(veggies) and preferences(no raw tomatoes.) I was a little confused with “private chef” and “personal chef”, but since private chefs only do it for a single client rather than contract with multiple clients, it sounds like a personal chef is a perfect one for me because I sometimes cook for my father-in-law too. 

 

This is one of the salads I cook for my clients: my dinner buddy(husband) and his father. My father in law loves traditional Japanese food, I opted a rare ingredient in the US: Burdock(gobo) with creamy mayo dressing with a touch of tahini and wasabi. 

 

Does it sound unique and make you tempted to eat? Sure you do, so let’s see how I make it!

 

<Today’s Recipe>

Wasabi Mayo Burdock Salad

<Ingredients>

*May contain Amazon Associate links. By clicking the links, they will take you to the specific Amazon.com product page and you’ll see what ingredients/tools are recommended for making the food of the day. As an Amazon Associate I will receive a very small commission from qualifying purchases.

• 100g burdock – finely shredded
• 50g carrot – shredded
• 1 tablespoon mayo
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• ½ teaspoon wasabi paste
• ¼ lemon for juice
• A pinch of salt
• Some green onion – chopped
• Some sesame seeds
• A pinch of chili powder

 

<Directions>

1. Cook burdock. Fill water in a pan and bring it to boil. Add burdock and cook for 1 min. Drain.
2. Combine everything together in a mixing bowl and toss well.
3. Transfer to a bowl and enjoy!

 

<Cooking Tips>

If you want to make it kids friendly, reduce the amount of wasabi paste. I’m not saying omit, just reduce it…wasabi in this salad is the key to make it so good!

And yes, after I shot a couple more photos, it’s packed in a plastic container and ready to be shipped to my father in law. (Tanooki’s job title: Personal chef/TanooUber driver)

 

It’s a popular salad in Japan, but as it contains tahini, it’s creamier, and the wasabi flavor gives a nice jab to your taste buds. If you’ve never tried burdock, trust me, you’ll be enjoying its unique texture while you’re chewing burdocks! 

 

<Ingredients memo: Burdock>

Some people may wonder what the burdock tastes like. Burdock has a unique earthy flavor with a crisp texture. For the texture, I think jicama is similar but burdock texture is much stronger, as burdocks are known as a great source of fiber. We as Japanese like to make kinpira, salad, tempura, or just simmer them with thinly sliced beef with the holy trinity of Japanese seasonings: soy sauce, sake and sugar.

 

If burdock isn’t packaged in a plastic container, its length is kept 8~10 inches long for easy handling, but if it’s just wrapped in a plastic wrap, they’re about 36 inches long. Therefore, if it’s sold by its weight, you’ll see a cashier break it into 2~3 parts by folding it to properly weight it, or someone who bought it do the same because simply they don’t fit in a car or basket in front of a bicycle. As a result, I used to hear kids’ screaming like “Nooooooo!” Wondering why? Since burdock is nice and long, kids love to play a hero with the burdock as an imaginary giant sword.

 

I hope you guys have a chance to try some burdock! Have a wonderful weekend. Cheers!

 

<Other Yummy Japanese Food>

For meat eaters, you can’t miss it! Beef Bowl

Bursting flavor! Stuffed Rolled Cabbage Ginger Dashi Sauce

How about traditional dessert? Matcha Warabi Mochi

Enjoy home cooking and your own creation of homemade food:)