Articles for the Month of March 2023

Prepare the Mushrooms

1. Rehydrate the wood ear mushrooms in a bowl with boiling water and leave them to soak for about 30 mins. Once ready, drain away water, squeeze out excess water and cut out any hard central bits.Roughly chop and set aside.
2. Remove any dirt/debris from the fresh mushrooms with a pastry brush (natural hair brush, not silicone). Give the mushrooms a wipe with kitchen paper towel if necessary.
3. Chop the king mushrooms into small pieces (3-5mm).
4. Remove the hard woody stems from the shitake mushrooms and chop into small pieces - cut all mushrooms to the same size.
5. Slice away and discard the bottom part of the enoki mushroom (like removing the woody ends off asparagus spears). Cut the stems into 2cm lengths.

Time to Cook

Tip: Cook your mushrooms in batches. Do not overcrowd your pan as your mushrooms will stew. I cooked my mushrooms in 3 separate batches

1. Heat a large skillet on high and add 3 T olive oil.  Add in 1/3 of the chopped garlic. Saute and let it sizzle for about 20 minutes.
2. Add in 1/3 of the chopped king mushrooms and 1/3 of the chopped shitake mushrooms. Stir to coat the mushrooms in the garlicky oil. Let the mushrooms cook in the pan, giving it a stir every now and then to prevent burning. The mushrooms should shrink in size and develop colour.
3. Add in 1/2 tsp salt and stir through.
4. Add in 1 1/2 T vegetarian oyster sauce and stir through. Be careful not to burn the sauce.
5. Add in 1/3 of the chopped enoki mushrooms and stir through. When the enoki mushrooms wilt a little, you can add in 1/3 of the chopped wood ear mushrooms.
6. Give everything a good stir through and add crack pepper.
7. Your mix is ready when the mushrooms have shrunk in size, dehydrated in the pan and developed colour and depth of flavour.
8. Throw in 1/3 of the chopped coriander.
9. Taste and season further if necessary.
10. Place prepared mushroom mix in a large mixing bowl.
11. Now repeat and make another two batches of shiitake & king oyster mushroom, adding each completed batch into the same large mixing bowl.

When all three batches are prepared, mix them altogether in the mixing bowl to combine. There should be 650-700g of mushroom mix, ready to use.

Serve with noodles or rice

1. Place udon in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiled water. Leave on the benchtop while you make the sauce. (The water is needed to just loosen the strands of noodles without breaking them.)

2. In a large skillet or wok, add oil, shallots and garlic. Sauté on medium heat for 1min to release their aroma.

3. Optional: Add in sliced bacon (or other marinated meats of your choice) and continue to stir until the fat is translucent and there is a bit of colour on your bacon 

4. Add in gochujang and stir to mix through.

5. Add in kimchi, then honey and stir through.

6. Reserve 1/4 cup of liquid from your noodles. Using a colander, drain away the rest of the water, leaving behind the noodles. Gently give the colander a shake to separate the strands of udon.

7. Add noodles to the work and stir through. Add in reserved noodle water and mix through until the sauce has emulsified. Remove from the heat when the sauce reaches the thickness you desire.

Serve on a plate, garnished with toasted sesame seeds and sliced spring onions. Top with a fried egg and enjoy!

Serves 4-6 (as part of a shared meal)

For the taro:

1. Cut the taro into 1cm slices then steam for 20mins or until cooked.

2. Place cooked taro into a large bowl and add seasonings. Roughly mash to mix the seasonings evenly through the taro.

3. Add wheat starch to a small, heatproof bowl. Add boiling water and mix with a spoon to make a rough paste. Add this paste to the taro and mix to combine.

4. Add 1/2T canola oil to the taro and quickly mix with gloved hands to reach a smooth, shiny ball.

5. Lightly grease a large piece of cling film with oil and place taro onto the centre. Press down and shape into an oval disc (27cmx14cm). Wrap and place in the freezer for a couple of hours or so to firm up.

6. Heat oil in a large wok and deep fry taro disc (remove cling wrap first) until golden. Place on a wire rack to quickly drain.

7. While still hot, cut taro disc into serving pieces on a chopping board and serve with dipping sauce.

For the sauce:

1. Add all sauce ingredients into a small pot and heat to dissolve the sugar. Simmer until the sauce has thickened to your liking.
 

1. Heat up oil in a pan and when hot fry the mantou for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown 

2. Dip with condensed milk and enjoy!  

Blitz everything in a blender and enjoy immediately

Tip: vary the amount of condensed milk according to your preference 

 

Makes approx 22 balls

1. Thaw out your spring roll wrappers and carefully separate into individual sheets. Using scissors, cut strips out of the sheets and separate into loose strips.

2. Blitz all the filling ingredients in a powerful food processor. You can have your balls chunky or blitz the mix longer for a sticky paste to get smooth and bouncy balls. Chill this filling mix for 30mins.

3. Take out your chilled filling and form into balls. This mix will yield about 22 balls.

4. Roll each ball into the strips of spring roll pastry to completely wrap each ball in pastry. Gently press in the pastry so that it sticks to the balls and trim off any long strands with scissors.

5. Heat up your oil to 180C and deep fry until golden. Drain on kitchen paper then serve hot with sweet chilli dipping sauce and/or yuzu mayo.