I’m not the kind of person that can be rational in a grocery store, especially on an empty stomach. I lose any sense of logic at the sight of novel fruits. On a recent trip to our grocery store I lost control and picked out three of each awkwardly shaped root vegetable, leaving our cashier sweaty and confused trying to remember the codes for four different types of identical sweet potatoes (I also had no idea). Eventually a produce savant emerged and rattled off random numbers with ease until the cashier held up the final root. “That? That’s just a giant carrot.” It weighed out at nearly 2 lbs.

I don’t typically put a whole lot of thought into carrots, but this beast merited special attention. We decided to make it the star of the meal, slow roasting it in a heavy bottomed cast iron pot similar to a technique we’d heard used on cauliflower at Noma. After two hours on medium low heat with minimal oil, the carrot emerged intensely carroty with a deep rich flavor and a hearty crust.

We sliced the carrot into half inch slices and served it on top of cold sesame soba noodles with mixed vegetables and Kyle Hildebrant’s Nước Chấm. Spicy and flavorful, this sauce adds a lush accent to the roasted vegetables. I will strongly second Kyle’s suggestion that if you’re one to shy away from fish sauce to give this recipe a try before writing it off.