Chinese food has travelled across in a way that you could be a million miles from China and still revel in authentic Chinese fare. In India itself, we love the cuisine so much that we have given it our own sweet twist with ‘Indo-Chinese’ food. Did you know, the fiery Manchurian and chilli chicken you have grown up associating with ‘Chinese food’ is actually a fairly Indian phenomenon. In China, you may not find Manchurian as you do in your local ‘Chinese Van’, but you will find no dearth of edgy snacks.
The Chinese aren’t afraid of fusing contrasting elements and experimenting with unique ingredients. Shitake Mushrooms are used widely across Cantonese and Sichuan style of cooking. Thes premium mushrooms are tan or dark brown in colour, with caps that grow between 2 to 4 inches, giving ample room to experiment. The texture of the mushroom is intensely soft, velvety, almost meaty. It is very pleasantly chewy, which is why, in this recipe chef Salem, uses the cap as the base to stuff a creamy filling of potato, cottage cheese, corn, pakchoy, and red chillies. The stuffed caps are then batter coated and fried. These crispy mushrooms are served with tangy, sharp soy-based sauce poured over it.
This appetizer was one of the items on Taj Mahal Hotel’s Chinese New Year Menu that was served in House of Ming restaurant. Here’s the complete recipe, see if you can make it at home.
Ingredients:
Shitake mushroom-6 no
Stuffing
- Potato 40 gm
- Cottage cheese 40 gm
- Corn Kernal 40 gm
- Spring onion 20 gm
- Fresh red chili 10 gm
- Pakchoi 20 gm
- Refined oil to fry
Batter
- Refined Flour 60 gm
- Corn Flour 40 gm
- Salt 5 gm
- Chilli Flakes 5 gm
Sauce
- Vegetable Stock 120 ml
- Chopped ginger 15 gm
- Chopped garlic 15 gm
- Chili paste 10 gm
- Spring onion 5 gm
- Salt 10 gm
- Sugar 5 gm
- White pepper 5 gm
- Soya sauce 5 ml
- Potato starch 20 gm
Method:
1. Take the Shitake and clean it. Remove the stem and scoop out the mushroom.
2. In a clean bowl, mix potato, cottage cheese, corn kernels, spring onion and fresh red Chili, Season with salt and white pepper.
3. Stuff the mixture into the mushroom and keep it aside.
4. In another bowl, mix cornflour, refined flour, salt and chili flakes to make a batter.
5. Heat oil to 180˚c, fry the stuffed mushroom till golden and keep aside.
6. Stir Fry Pakchoi, season with salt.
7. For the sauce, heat a wok to medium heat and sauté chopped ginger and Garlic.
8. Add the chilli paste and Sauté for a couple of minutes.
9. Add Stock, season with salt, sugar and White pepper, add Soya Sauce.
10. Thicken with the potato starch.
11. On a white platter, arrange the pakchoi and place the fried stuffed mushroom on it and pour the sauce over it.
12. Garnish with chopped spring onion.
13. Stuffed Shitake mushrooms with soy chili sauce are ready to be served.
