Friday, February 17, 2012

Rhapsody In Brown. The Fungus Among Us.

Mr. Hawthorne is stir frying tonight.
It's a rhapsody in brown.
We're using shiitaki mushrooms from our first harvest.
Instructions said the stems were tough and fibrous and not to use except maybe to add flavor to a stock.
Mr. Hawthorne chopped celery, onion, and green pepper.
And he thinly sliced some garlic.
Wok is on high heat. Heat a little peanut oil and throw in the garlic slices.
And the peppers.
And the onions.
And the celery. Stir fry about one minute.
Add in the shiitakes.
Stir fry about 1 minute.
Then Mr. Hawthorne added in a little water to steam everything.
Keep stir frying over high heat about 2 minutes.
Pour prepared cornstarch slurry down the sides of the pan, not directly on top of the veggies. You want the slurry to stay hot and thicken up. Cornstarch slurry: 1 TB cornstarch 1/4 cup water 2 TB soy sauce 1 heaping TB sugar Stir to dissolve.
Stir fry until thickened. Total time from start to finish - about 6 minutes. That's the beauty of stir frying.
Oooh.
Isn't this pretty?
Shiitake mushrooms are more robust than the little white button mushrooms. They're earthy. And meaty. And they're fungusy. It's win/win/win.
And the fact that we grew these ourselves always makes it taste better.
I can't wait to harvest the next batch.
Lentinula edodes. It's what's for dinner.

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