Lotus Root and Minced Chicken Hasami-yaki, with HOT SPICE "Shibikara"

Dust potato starch onto the cut face of the lotus root, then lay the filling on. The powder goes only on the face the filling touches. That one small step is what keeps it from coming apart as it cooks.

Bite in and the lotus root snaps, and the minced chicken between the slices lets out its sweet-salty juice.

HOT SPICE "Shibikara" is a blend of six spices holding two green sansho peppers from different origins. Tingle, coolness, warmth and heat: all four stand up strongly. The aroma of green sansho is the first thing driven off by heat, so only half of it dissolves into the glaze. The rest goes on after the stove is off.

Total time: about 35 min

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• HOT SPICE "Shibikara": about 1 tsp (a guide. It is used in two halves. Adjust to the heat you like)
• Lotus root: 1 large section (about 300 g)
• Minced chicken: 250 g
• Japanese long onion (naganegi): 1/2
• Ginger: 1 knob
• Shiso leaves: 6 (optional)
• Potato starch: 2 tbsp (for the filling)
• Potato starch: 2 tbsp (for dusting)
• Salt: 1/3 tsp
• Soy sauce: 1 1/2 tbsp
• Mirin: 2 tbsp
• Sake: 1 tbsp
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Oil: 1 tbsp

Choose a thick middle section of lotus root. The thin end has no consistent diameter, which makes it hard to pair the slices up. Any leftover thin end can be cut into matchsticks and turned into kinpira.

Thigh or breast mince, either works. Breast mince has little fat, so work in 1 tsp of sesame oil as you knead it and the finished pieces will not be dry.

Preparation

1. Peel the ginger and grate it. Chop the long onion finely.
2. In a bowl, combine the minced chicken (250 g), the long onion, the ginger, the salt (1/3 tsp) and the potato starch (2 tbsp), and knead for about a minute until it turns sticky. Keep it in the fridge until you need it.
3. Peel the lotus root and cut it into rounds 7–8 mm thick. Do not put them into water — pat the cut faces dry with paper towel just as they are. Soaked in water, they will not take the potato starch later.
4. Pair the rounds up by size, two by two. You should end up with about eight pairs.
5. Mix the soy sauce (1 1/2 tbsp), mirin (2 tbsp), sake (1 tbsp) and sugar (1 tsp), and dissolve half of the HOT SPICE "Shibikara" (about 1/2 tsp) into it. Tastes for heat differ, so start light and add more as you taste.
6. If you are using shiso leaves, trim the stems, stack the leaves, cut them in half lengthways and then into fine ribbons. The aroma escapes from the cut edge, so cut them just before serving.

Instructions

1. Dust one face of each lotus root round thinly with potato starch, through a tea strainer. The powder goes only on the inner face, where the filling will sit. Dust the outside too and it will show as white powder after frying.
2. Put about 1 tbsp of filling onto the dusted face and press it into the holes with your finger. The filling that goes into the holes acts as the fastening while it cooks.
3. Lay the second round on top, press it between both hands until it is flat seen from the side, and run a finger round the edge to smooth the filling that squeezes out along the rim of the lotus root.
4. Put the oil (1 tbsp) into a frying pan over medium heat and lay the pieces in. Fry for 4 minutes without touching them.
5. Once coloured, turn them, cover, and steam-fry over low heat for 6 minutes. This is where the filling in the middle cooks through.
6. Take the lid off and drive off the liquid left in the pan over medium-high heat for 1 minute.
7. Turn the heat down, pour in the glaze and shake the pan as it reduces, about 2 minutes, until the liquid has halved and coats the pieces.
8. Take the pan off the heat, shake over the rest of the HOT SPICE "Shibikara" and swirl the pan so it settles over everything. The aroma of green sansho leaves first with the heat, so this last shake is the real body of the tingle in this dish.
9. Serve, and scatter over the shiso. It is good with nothing on top at all.
10. Taste, and if it needs it, one more shake of HOT SPICE "Shibikara". If this is your first time, start light and add more at the table.

How the tingle feels differs a great deal from person to person. On days when small children are at the table, make it without dissolving any into the glaze and give only the adults' plates the shake after the heat goes off. You can vary the heat person by person without ever using two pans.

It does not go tough when cold, so it travels in the next day's lunchbox. Do steps 1 to 5 the evening before, and in the morning put the pieces straight from the fridge back into the pan and pick up from step 7. If you are packing a lunchbox, let them cool completely first and pack them with dry, clean chopsticks.

HOT SPICE "Shibikara" is a blend of six spices holding two green sansho peppers from different origins. The tingle is unmistakable, so it suits the table best — keep it beside you and add as you eat.