Before You Start...

Cup of Yum
1. If you will include this dish in your Osechi meal, I recommend preparing it 2–3 days before you plan to serve. For more helpful tips on planning your Japanese New Year feast, please read my A 5-Day Osechi Cooking Timeline blog post.
2. Gather all the ingredients.

To Prepare the Sesame Sauce

1. To a dry frying pan (no oil) over medium heat, add 2 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds and toast them. Keep some distance from the heat while you shake the pan until the sesame seeds are fragrant and start to pop.
2. Transfer the toasted seeds to a mortar (suribachi). Using a pestle (surikogi), grind the sesame seeds until 80% of the seeds are ground. Keep some of the seeds unground for texture.
3. To the mortar, add 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp mirin, and 1 tsp rice vinegar (unseasoned). Mix well with the sesame seeds.

To Prepare the Gobo

1. Scrape the skin of 1 gobo (burdock root) with the back of a knife. Don’t use a vegetable peeler on the gobo’s skin because you don't want to peel off the earthy and delicious flavor just below the skin.
2. Cut the gobo into 5-inch (12-cm) lengths, and then cut each piece in half lengthwise. If it’s a very thick piece, you can cut that piece lengthwise in half again.
3. Combine 1 tsp rice vinegar (unseasoned) and 4 cups water in a medium bowl and soak the gobo for 3 minutes to prevent it from changing color. Drain and set aside.

To Cook the Gobo

1. Add the gobo to a saucepan filled with water. Bring it to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium and cook for 13–15 minutes, or until the gobo is tender but firm. Drain the gobo and transfer to a cutting board.

To Dress with the Sauce

1. Pound the hot gobo with the pestle (surikogi) or a rolling pin from end to end until the fibers are smashed. This allows the sauce to permeate the fibers of the gobo. Then, cut the gobo in half crosswise (2.5-inch, 6-cm pieces).
2. While the gobo is still hot, transfer it into the sesame sauce and coat well. Gobo will absorb more flavors when it‘s hot.

To Serve and Store

1. Serve immediately at room temperature or serve chilled.

To Store

1. You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and keep them for 3 days in the refrigerator or for up to a month in the freezer.