Arrowroot Beef Stew

Arrowroot, arrowhead, Chinese potato... you know 慈菇. These round tubers with pointy sprout at the tip. They have a texture of a potato, only crispier with a distinct tang that distinguishes it from the common potato. I remember having these when I was little and honestly didn't think I'd find them in the U.S. but here they are! So of course I'm going to cook them. Even if they are a bit of a pain in the ass to prep...

The arrowroot I bought came in a bag that had ~15 tubers. If I had to guess, I'd say it was maybe 1-2 lbs. I'm really bad at this measurement thing... sorry guys. Wash them! They are usually pretty muddy on the outside. They are roots, duh.

Don't worry about getting them pristine clean. The outside of the roots are covered in a fibrous skin. You'll need to boil them to soften them up and then peel the skins off.

In a pot, boil the arrowroots in enough water to cover them (they tend to float so they don't really get fully submerged). This will take roughly 5-10 mins, until the outside is soft. Then drain and rinse in cold water to cool the roots.

Here's the reason why it's a pain in the butt to prep. The peels can be difficult to remove. Since the roots are kind of small, I usually use the tip of a knife. Anyhow, just remove most of the fibrous part. It doesn't have to be perfect, some fiber is good for your intestinal health. ;)

Cut the arrowroots in half vertically (through the tips). Here they are all peeled and halved.

Okay for meat, you can use beef, chicken, pork, whatever. Even tofu/mock chicken/duck if you want to go vegetarian. I used beef this time.

When I use meat, especially for stews, I like to pre-blanch them, i.e. boil in water to get rid of all the gunk. That way it reduces the amount of stuff you have to skim off later. After blanching and dumping out the water and gunk, add some oil, I have been using EVOO almost exclusively lately. Slightly brown the beef on high heat.

After the meat is slightly browned, add water, soy sauce, rice cooking wine, ginger slices, garlic cloves, and star anise, salt to taste. Also add a few cubes of rock sugar to balance the flavors.

Natural rock sugar. Beware most white rock sugars has been heavily processed and contains other junk in it like corn syrup and whatnot. I found this bag of yellow rock sugar that was just cane sugar, no B.S. If you can't find natural rock sugar, then just use regular granulated sugar. It'll work too.

Bring the concoction to a boil, then reduce the heat to keep it at a simmer. Simmer for 1 hours or until the meat is tender. You may need to add water back once in a while to keep the stew from running dry. Throw in a few sprigs of green onion at the end and it's done.

Arrowroot Beef Stew:
(estimated ingredient list, because you know, I don't measure)

• 1 lb stew beef (or chicken, pork, tofu, whatever)
• 1 bag of ~15 arrowroots
• 1/2 inch fresh ginger, sliced round
• 3-5 cloves garlic
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup soy sauce
• Splash of rice cooking wine (like 1 tablespoon)
• 3 star anise
• 1.5-2 tablespoon rock sugar or 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 stalks of green onion
• salt to taste