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POWER PLANT | burdock
Stuck on you
Burdock is more than just an annoying
burr that catches on your clothes. It’s
also a medicinal herb, tonic and food
Words Jennifer Stackhouse
If you have English heritage, or devoured
UK adventure stories as a kid, the word
burdock may lead you to recall an oldfashioned
soft drink known as dandelion
and burdock. If your background is Asian,
you’ll know burdock as gobo, an edible herb.
Whatever your upbringing, burdock or
gobo (Arctium lappa) is a vigorous, weedy
plant that’s nutritious and used for its
medicinal properties. It’s part of the daisy
family (Asteraceae) and grows readily from
seed, which is planted in spring or autumn.
Burdock is a biennial, meaning it continues
to grow for more than a year. If left to grow to
maturity, it reaches 1–2m high and 1m wide
and produces tufty purple thistle-like flowers
on top of a round, spiky capsule that turns
into a large, prickly and very clingy burr. (Its
prickle was the inspiration for the invention
of Velcro.) To avoid a weedy problem, harvest
the plants well before the flowers appear.
Burdock has large, heart-shaped and
slightly furry leaves that can be harvested
young to add to salads or cooked like spinach.
It’s the roots that are the main harvest,
however, and these are at their best in spring
and autumn when they’re long (up to 60cm)
and slender. Such deep roots need to be dug
carefully from the soil so they don’t break.
Edible roots
The roots are brown to almost black on the
outside, but beneath the skin is white flesh.
Young roots can be peeled and chopped
to add to salads but mature roots are best
cooked as a roast or stirfry. They’re also used
in the Japanese vegetable dish kinpira gobo
(see recipe).
The roots can also be pickled or, better
still, used in combination with dandelion roots
to make burdock and dandelion cordial or
burdock and dandelion beer.
Medicinal properties
Burdock has long been celebrated in herbal
medicine — both Western and traditional
Chinese — for its anti-inflammatory and
antibacterial properties. Recent studies also
reveal it contains powerful antioxidants.
As a deep-rooted plant, it’s able to mine
nutrients from the soil that may not be
available to smaller plants.
Warning
Make sure you correctly identify burdock
before using any part of it. Growing your
own from seed is a safe way to produce this
fascinating edible weed.
Seeds are available from Green Harvest
greenharvest.com.au.
Kinpira Gobo
(Braised Carrot &
Burdock Root)
Serves: 3–4 as side dish
1 burdock root, peeled & julienned
⅓ carrot, julienned
Coconut oil, for frying
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp roasted white sesame seeds
Ichimi togarashi (red pepper flakes — optional)
Ito togarashi (dried chilli strands — optional)
Seasonings
¾ cup dashi (use kombu dashi for vegetarians)
2 tbsp sake
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp mirin
1½ tbsp soy sauce
Soak burdock in water or vinegar water (just
one drop of vinegar would do). Change the
water a couple of times until it becomes
clean, then leave burdock in the water until
ready to stirfry.
In a frying pan, heat oil over a medium–
high flame and stirfry burdock. Add carrot for
a few minutes.
Add seasonings and cook until most of the
liquid evaporates.
When liquid is almost gone, add sesame
oil and sprinkle sesame seeds and ichimi
togarashi and/or ito togarashi if using.
Recipe adapted from one by Namiko Chen,
justonecookbook.com
Burdock label
Common name: Burdock, gobo
Botanical name: Arctium lappa
Family: Asteraceae (daisy family)
Group: Biennial
Requires: Sun to part shade;
constant moisture
Dislikes: Dry conditions
Suitable for: Herb gardens, vegetable
gardens, containers
Habit: Rosette-forming herb
Needs: Warmth
Propagation: Seed
Difficulty: Easy
CanStockPhoto
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