Kinpira is a traditional cooking technique in which vegetables (usually root vegetables) are finely sliced and braised (or sautéed and simmered) in a sweet sauce consisting of soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and hot chili peppers. The most famous dish made with this technique is called kinpira gobo and it uses burdock root, which is served as a side dish once it's been prepared.

Other common vegetables for kinpira include carrots, mushrooms, green peppers, and lotus root (renkon). The name kinpira dates back to the Edo period and a hero from plays and stories called Kinpira, who was strong like burdock root.