Cheese Lotus Root Strips
A cheese-pull spin on Wuhan's classic fried lotus root strips, the strips soaked in acidulated water and double-fried the way the street-cart version has always been made, so they come out genuinely crisp rather than soggy or starchy. Building the cheese as a thick, gently melted sauce rather than just scattering shredded cheese over the hot strips is what gives it the long, dramatic pull instead of clumps of separately melted cheese.
Prep25 min
Cook20 min
Rest15 min
Servings4
Christoph's cheese lotus root strips, the strips soaked and double-fried the street-cart way, with a melted cheese sauce for a real pull.
Ingredients
Written for a 3 L pot
Units
Temperature
Servings
Lotus root strips
- 500 g lotus root, peeled, cut into 8 cm matchsticks rounded
- 15 ml white vinegar, for the soaking water rounded
- 60 g cornstarch rounded
- 500 ml neutral oil, for frying rounded
- 5 g fine salt rounded
- 3 g ground Sichuan pepper rounded
- 3 g chili powder (optional) rounded
Cheese sauce
- 150 g mozzarella, shredded rounded
- 80 ml milk rounded
- 10 g butter rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Soak the lotus root strips in cold water with the vinegar for 15 minutes. This draws out excess starch and stops them browning; drain and pat completely dry.
- Toss the dried strips in the cornstarch, coating evenly, and shake off the excess.
- Heat the oil in a wok or deep pot to 150°C. Fry the strips in batches for 4 to 5 minutes, until pale gold and cooked through but not yet crisp. Lift out and drain.
- Raise the oil to 190°C. Fry the strips again, in batches, for 3 to 4 minutes, until deeply golden and audibly crisp. Drain on paper towels and toss immediately with the salt, Sichuan pepper and chili powder.
- While the strips fry, melt the butter in a small pot over low heat. Add the milk and warm gently, then add the mozzarella a handful at a time, stirring constantly until fully melted and smooth and stretchy. Keep the heat low; mozzarella that gets too hot turns oily and separates rather than staying stretchy.
- Pile the hot, seasoned strips on a plate. Pour the cheese sauce over the top just before serving, so it pulls into long strings as it’s lifted away.
Notes
- Soak the strips in acidulated water before frying. Lotus root oxidizes and browns fast once cut, and carries a surprising amount of starch; the soak keeps the color pale and lets the strips fry crisp instead of gummy.
- Fry twice, at two different temperatures. The first, cooler fry cooks the strips through without much color; the second, hotter fry is what actually crisps the surface. Frying only once at high heat browns the outside before the inside cooks, and frying only once at low heat never crisps at all.
- Keep the cheese sauce over low heat and add the mozzarella gradually. Mozzarella melted too fast or too hot separates into oil and rubbery curds instead of staying smooth; a gentle, gradual melt is what keeps it pulling into long strings.
- Serve immediately. The cheese pull and the crisp both fade fast once everything sits.
Ingredient substitutions
- A blend of mozzarella and a little cheddar in the sauce adds sharpness alongside the stretch.
- Sweet potato, cut the same way, works with the same double-fry technique if lotus root isn’t available.
- A drizzle of chili crisp over the finished dish adds crunch and heat for those who want more.
From Christoph Mayer