Lotus Root Tempura Stuffed with Pork

Lotus roots! I used two small :) You can easily peel the out skin with a regular peeler.

Peel and slice lotus into thin slices (about 3mm or so).

Grate ginger and mince onions.

Soak lotus in water for 5-10 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towel.

Meanwhile, mix ground pork with onion, ginger, salt and flour. Then sandwich a spoonful of the meat between two slices of lotus root.

Repeat until all lotus "sandwiches" are done.

Mix flour, potato starch, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.

When ready to fry, mix sparkling water (or just cold water) into flour until you get a consistency of heavy cream (it was about 120 ml for me).

Dip each lotus sandwich into the batter. Let excess batter run off before frying.

Fry until batter is crisp and meat is cooked - a couple minutes each. Cut one in half to check the meat if you're worried.

The tempura batter should turn out light and a bit poofy!

Mix soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and ginger (if using) for dipping sauce. Slice each lotus sandwich in half and serve with dipping sauce and karashi mustard. Yum!