Quick Lotus Stem Stir-Fry
Crunchy, crispy lotus stem is deep fried and then tossed into sweet and spicy sauce that equally easy, quick and full of flavors.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
Deep-Fried Lotus Stem
- Lotus stem, 12 Oz/340 grms pack 3 cups sliced, approximately
- 3 tbsp rice flour
- 3 tbsp corn starch
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Oil for frying
Vegetables
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 jalapeno chopped on bias, optional
- ½ each Red bell pepper & Green Bell pepper chopped into big chunks
- ½ small onions chopped into big chunks
- ¼ cup chopped scallions
Sauce
- 3 tbsp chili sauce
- 1 clove garlic grated (approx 1 tsp)
- 1- inch piece ginger grated
- 1 tbsp soya sauce
- 1 tbsp sriracha or hot sauce optional
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- Black pepper powder
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Thaw the lotus stem for 30 minutes. It is okay if it is still a little less thawed. (Read notes)
- In a small bowl. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and keep it aside.
- Once, thawed. Pre-heat oil for frying at about 300 F at medium flame in a pot.
- While the oil is heating, in a mixing bowl, add corn starch, rice flour, salt, and black pepper powder. Mix it well. Add the lotus stems in the flour mix. Gently coat it with the flour mix.
- Drop the lotus stem slices one by one into the oil. Fry them until crispy and crunchy, slightly golden in color. It’s important to make them crunchy because the texture is amazing that way.
- Remove them on a parchment paper. Finish frying all of them.
- In a pan, take a tbsp. oil. Add the chopped scallions (leave some green part for garnishing, onions, bell peppers and cook them on high heat for 3 minutes.
- Reduce the heat, add in the sauce. Give it a stir and quickly add the fried lotus stem. Toss it until everything is well coated. Taste to adjust the seasonings and spiciness.
Notes
- Be careful, to not break the stems. As they thaw, they also release water and become mushy. Be gentle.
- I have used different types of spices. Adjust according to your taste. You can easily avoid jalapenos.
- Soya sauce also has sodium so please add salt accordingly. You can always add more salt later but cannot change it.
- If it becomes spicier, add a little bit of more honey. The dish is supposed to be sweet and spicy.