Lotus Root substitute

Best substitute

Jicama

Use the same amount sliced thin as the lotus root you are replacing

Best for goi ngo sen

Close match

For raw salads and pickles use thinly sliced jicama 1:1. For stir-fries, braises and fillings use water chestnuts 1:1, since they share lotus root's rare ability to stay crunchy after cooking. Daikon works 1:1 in soups and braises but turns soft rather than crisp.

Other lotus root substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Water Chestnuts
Close match
Use the same amount
Small, flat, ivory tubers, fresh or canned, sliced into rounds.
What changes
Best for
stir-fries, braises, dumpling and spring roll fillings, soups
The closest match on the thing that actually matters: they stay audibly crunchy after cooking, which almost no other vegetable does. They are smaller and round, so you lose the decorative lacy slices, and canned ones can taste faintly tinny, so rinse them well and add them late.
3Daikon Radish
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Long white radish, peeled and cut into thick rounds or half-moons.
What changes
Best for
braises, soups, long-simmered dishes, pickles
Sliced into rounds it looks vaguely similar in the bowl, but it goes soft and translucent instead of staying crunchy, and it adds a mild peppery bite plus a lot of water, so a braise thins slightly and tastes cleaner and sharper. Good when lotus root is a background vegetable, wrong when it is the feature.
4Celery, Cut on a Steep Bias
Different taste
Use the same amount
Celery ribs, strung and sliced diagonally into wide, thin pieces.
What changes
Best for
raw salads, quick stir-fries, slaws
Delivers crunch reliably and cheaply, but adds a green, grassy, slightly bitter flavor lotus root does not have, and lotus root's mild sweetness disappears. Peel the strings off the outer ribs first or the pieces turn fibrous in the mouth.
5Kohlrabi or Chayote
Different taste
Use the same amount cooked briefly
Firm, mild pale vegetables, peeled and sliced thin.
What changes
Best for
stir-fries, light soups, salads
Both hold a firm bite through a short cook and are mild enough to take on the sauce, which is most of lotus root's job. Neither has the starchy body, so a stir-fry tastes lighter and more watery, and kohlrabi brings a faint broccoli-stem sweetness.
6No good substitute: lotus root chips and kinpira renkon
Taste and texture differ
The honest case where the holes and the specific snap are the dish.
What changes
Best for
lotus root chips, kinpira renkon, stuffed lotus root
The lacy pattern and the particular starchy-crunchy snap are the entire appeal, and nothing reproduces either. If fresh is unavailable, frozen sliced lotus root is genuinely good in braises and soups and worth buying. Canned lotus root is soft and limp, acceptable in soup and disappointing in a salad.

What is Lotus Root?

Lotus Root is The crisp, starchy rhizome of the lotus plant, sold as a chain of beige sausage-shaped links that reveal a lacy ring of holes when sliced, known as renkon in Japan and cu sen or ngo sen in Vietnam.

Cooking tips

Drop peeled slices straight into water with a splash of vinegar or lemon juice. Cut lotus root browns within a few minutes, and the acidulated water also keeps it bright white for a salad.
Peel it and trim both ends. The skin is tough and slightly bitter, the cut ends are usually muddy inside, and the holes collect grit, so rinse them out under running water before slicing.
Match the thickness to the job: about an eighth of an inch for crunch in salads and stir-fries, half an inch for braises. Thin slices in a long braise go floppy, while thick pieces stay meaty and keep their bite.
For pickles and salads, blanch the slices 60 to 90 seconds and shock them in ice water. That takes off the raw starchy edge without costing you any snap.
Buy a firm, heavy link with no soft or hollow-sounding spots. The exposed cut ends will already be browning at the store, which is normal oxidation and not a sign it is old.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave lotus root out?

In a braise or soup where it is one vegetable among several, yes; it is contributing texture rather than flavor. But a dish like goi ngo sen, the Vietnamese lotus stem salad, essentially is lotus root, so leaving it out leaves you with a herb salad. Add jicama or water chestnuts if you want the crunch back.

Is lotus root the same as water chestnut?

No, they are unrelated plants, but they behave alike in the pan, which is what makes water chestnuts the best cooked substitute. Both stay crunchy after simmering and both are mild and faintly sweet. Lotus root is starchier and comes in large sliceable rounds; water chestnuts are small, flat and juicier.

Can I use canned lotus root?

For soups and braises, yes, though it is softer and often slightly sour from the brine, so rinse it and add it in the last few minutes. For salads and pickles it is a poor choice because the whole appeal is the snap. Frozen sliced lotus root is much better than canned and is worth looking for in the freezer aisle.

Does lotus root taste like potato?

Not really. It is much milder and crisper than potato, closer to a water chestnut or a raw jicama, with a faint sweetness and a slight starchy chalkiness. Unlike potato it never turns fluffy or creamy no matter how long you cook it, which is exactly why cooks look for a substitute with that specific behavior.

Why did my lotus root turn pink or grey?

Natural tannins in the root reacting with air or with iron, which happens fast in a cast iron or carbon steel pan and can tint the slices pink, grey or even bluish. It is harmless and does not affect the flavor. Slicing into acidulated water and cooking in stainless or enamel keeps it white.

Related substitutes

More vegetables & aromatics substitutes

Lotus Root substitute

Other lotus root substitutes

2Water Chestnuts

3Daikon Radish

4Celery, Cut on a Steep Bias

5Kohlrabi or Chayote

6No good substitute: lotus root chips and kinpira renkon