Winter Stir-Fry with Root Vegetables

“Gobo, ” said the produce vendor in Kyoto’s Nishiki Market when I asked the name of the long thin beige-white roots stacked in front of her. She seemed surprised that I didn’t know. So I bought some and took them back to my friend’s house, and of course she knew it well.

Gobo is a great fall and winter vegetable. It’s called burdock in English, and it’s available in health food stores that carry produce as well as in Japanese and Korean shops. Traditionally this countr