Kinpira (Japanese: 金平) is a Japanese cooking style that can be summarised as a technique of "sauté and simmer". It is commonly used to cook root vegetables such as carrot, burdock and lotus root, seaweeds such as arame and hiziki and other foods including tofu and seitan.

The technique can be illustrated using carrot as an example:

1. the carrot is cut into thin matchstick pieces (sen-giri )
2. the carrot pieces are then sautéd in oil (usually sesame) for two to three minutes
3. a small quantity of water is added to only half-cover the carrot pieces
4. the lid is placed on the pot and the carrot pieces are simmered on medium-heat
5. an optional step is to add some tamari or shoyu towards the end of the cooking
6. when all the liquid has been absorbed the food should be tenderly cooked. The lid may be removed to finish this process.