KitchenNippon

Ingredients for 5 Servings
Lotus root (れんこん / Renkon) 200 g
Miso (味噌 / Miso) 40 g
Hon mirin (本みりん / Hon mirin) 1 tbsp
Cane sugar (きび砂糖 / Kibizatōh) 1 tbsp
Sake (酒 / Sake) 1/2 tbsp
Soy sauce (醤油 / Shōyu) 1/2 tbsp
Sesame oil (ごま油 / Goma-abura) 1 tsp
Ground sesame (すり胡麻 / Suri goma) 1 tbsp

How to Make
1. Skin the renkon and cut it into rounds, or half-rounds, 1 cm thick. Soak the cut renkon in water for 5-10 minutes. Drain off the water and blot dry.
2. Add the miso, mirin, sugar, sake and soy sauce to a sealable plastic bag. Mix by using your hand to massage the bag until the sugar and miso are dissolved. Add the cut renkon, massage the bag to mix these in as well. Seal the bag and set it aside for at least an hour.
3. Add the sesame oil to a frying pan, place the pan on medium heat and then add the renkon. Coat the renkon with sauce and brown well on both sides. Finally, add the ground sesame and give each piece of renkon an even coating of it.
Significance of Renkon as an Osechi Ingredient
Renkon is full of holes that one can clearly see through. It, therefore, symbolizes conditions that could be described as “mitoshi ga kiku” (見通しがきく) in Japanese. “Mitoshi” (見通し) refers to an outlook or future, while “kiku” (きく) means that something works or is effective. “Mitoshi ga kiku” then means an outlook for success.