Lotus Root with Beech Mushrooms and Ground Pork

While traveling in Japan, lotus roots appeared in a lot of my dishes. As I perused my local Japanese market the other day, I saw some nice looking lotus root so I decided to buy a pack. (Experiment time! So exciting.) This would be my first time cooking lotus root and I wasn’t quite sure what I would cook it with, but right next to the lotus roots at the market were a variety of mushrooms. I figured mushrooms could go together with the lotus roots, sure why not, so I picked up some Japanese brown beech mushrooms (buna-shimeji). I didn’t think I would get much of a full flavor from just lotus root and mushrooms, so I also picked up some ground pork. In my head, I thought to myself that these three ingredients shall go together, and it did (luckily)–This dish turned out quite tasty!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb ground pork
• ~0.4 lb lotus root
• 1 pack brown beech mushroom
• 1/2 green onion, thickly chopped (preferably just the green part)
• oil

Sauce:

• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons honey (use more or less to taste. the sugar content of different types of honey will be different)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon rice vinegar

Directions:

Sauce: mix honey, soy sauce, and rice vinegar in a small bowl. Make sure the honey is fully dissolved.

Take the lotus root and peel off the outer skin. Then slice very thin cross section pieces.

For the beech mushrooms, cut off the bottom part and separate the mushrooms out.

Place the pan on the stove and turn the temperature to high. Add about 1 tablespoon of oil in. Once the oil is hotter, add the green onions. After the green onion sizzles for about 30 seconds, place the ground pork in. Stir and separate the ground pork out with a spatula.

When the ground pork looks about 70% cooked, add in half of the sauce. Stir.

Then immediately place the lotus roots in. Stir.

Place the mushrooms in. Add the rest of the sauce. Stir and mix well to evenly distribute the sauce.

Turn the temperature to medium high and continue cooking and stirring for about 4-5 minutes, or until lotus root is slightly caramelized from the soy sauce.

Sauteed Portobello Mushrooms

I went wine tasting last month in Gilroy, CA nicknamed the “Garlic Capital of the World” and tried a red garlic wine.  It was very unique and they had a cooking wine version of it. I’ve never seen any garlic cooking wines being sold in my local grocery stores, so I had to buy it and experiment with it!  I brainstormed a couple things that I could make with it and mushrooms were the first thing that came to mind.

Ingredients:

• 2 portobello mushrooms
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup red garlic cooking wine (if you don’t have garlic cooking wine, you can use red wine and maybe a little more finely minced garlic)
• salt

the beautiful portobello mushrooms that I used…

…sliced into thin pieces.

Directions:

Place the pan on the stove and turn the temperature to high. When the pan is warm, place 1/2 tablespoon of oil in. When the oil is hot, add a few dashes of salt in and add the mushrooms. Stir for about 30 secs.

Add about half of the wine in and it should sizzle in the pan. Quickly stir it around. Turn the temperature down to medium high. Add the rest of the wine in. (If there is still a lot of sizzling or the pan is becoming really dry, turn the temperature down to medium.) Let it cook and slowly stir for 2-3 mins. The mushrooms should start looking slightly slimy on the surface.

Add the garlic in and stir.  Add more salt to taste, if needed.

Continue to cook the mushrooms for another 1-2 mins, or until they become more slimy looking.

I made these a couple times and I think the temperature of when the wine is added in is pretty sensitive. Sometimes my mushroom dish would turn out dry and sometimes very liquidy (like the dish in this post), but ultimately the same flavor is there. ^_^

Taiwanese Ground Pork Over Rice (肉燥飯）

There are many variations of this dish in Taiwan. Some use spices (star anise, 5 spice powder), or there’s the saucy (thickened with corn starch) slow cooked kinds. As for my version, I like to keep it simple. =]

Ingredients:

• ~0.5 lbs ground pork (good quality recommended)
• 7 shiitake mushrooms, diced
• 1 large garlic clove, finely minced
• fried shallots (about a spoonful)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• black pepper
• cilantro/coriander (optional)

(~4-5 servings)

Set the temperature to high. Add the oil once the pan is warm. When the oil is hotter, place the garlic in. Let the garlic sizzle a little and place the ground pork on one side of the pan and place the shiitake on the other. Quickly divide and separate the pork into smaller pieces while also stirring the shiitake.

When the pork is partially cooked (half cooked, half raw). Mix with shiitake. Pour in the soy sauce, stir, and continue separating the pork. Add the shallots. Stir.

Add black pepper to taste. Continue stirring for 2-3 minutes.

Super quick and easy. You could garnish it with cilantro/coriander.

Stir-Fried Japanese Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 1 pack king trumpet mushrooms (Eryngii)
• 1 pack white beech mushrooms (Bunapi)
• 1 pack beech mushrooms (Buna Shimeji)
• 2 stalks green onions
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon corn starch
• 1 tablespoon water
• thai chili peppers (optional)

All the mushrooms in their packaging:

Wash the mushrooms (although they’re actually pretty clean looking already) and green onions. Slice the trumpet mushrooms into thin pieces. For the beech mushrooms, slice off the bottom portion (and throw away) and separate the mushrooms with your hands. Slice the green onion into wide pieces. Mix the sugar, rice vinegar, and soy sauce together to make the sauce. Mix the corn starch thoroughly with the water (for thickening. not pictured).

Place the pan on stove and turn temperature to high. Pour in the oil when the pan is hot. Once the oil is warm, place in all the cut and separated mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms for 1 min. Add the green onions (and chili peppers, optional) and stir fry for 1 min. Add the sauce. Stir and mix it evenly with the mushrooms. Let it cook for 3-5 mins, with in between stirrings.

Turn the temperature down to medium low. Have the corn starch mix ready. When the dish has simmered down a little more, add the mix all around and stir. (It is crucial to have it simmer down because the corn starch mix may become lumpy at high heat). Stir and cook on medium low for another 2 mins.

These mushrooms are so good AND healthy for you. http://www.hokto-kinoko.com/health.html
According to the site, they also cultivate Maitake mushrooms, but I have yet to find that one in the grocery stores near me.

Three Dishes in 30 Minutes

For dinner the other night, I decided to make salmon, vegetables, and an eggplant mushroom dish. All this surprisingly only took me 30 mins! And then I had leftovers for 3 more meals.

I decided to make fish because I heard on the news a couple days ago that eating fish may lower the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.  ^_^

Dish 1: Baked Salmon

Before you start anything in the kitchen, preheat the oven to 350F!

Ingredients:

• 2 wild alaskan sockeye salmon 5-7 ounce fillet (frozen and individually vacuum packed, from Costco. *Defrost the night before in a tub of water placed in fridge)
• salt
• black pepper
• vegetable oil
• lemon (optional)
• soy sauce (optional)

1) Wash the salmon fillets. Semi dry them. Rub two thin layers of salt on both pieces. Then rub on black pepper.
2) Place the salmon on foil in a baking pan. Add a small splash of vegetable oil.
3) Wrap the foil over and completely cover both pieces.
4) Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.

In the meantime, while the salmon is baking, make the other 2 dishes!

*After the salmon is done baking, you could add either soy sauce or squeeze some lemon juice over it.

Dish 2: Sauteed Chinese Broccoli

Ingredients:

• A handful of chinese broccoli stalks (about 8 stalks)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 large cloves of garlic, longitudinal slices
• 1/2 cup shiao hsing wine.
• salt

1) Wash and separate leaves from stems. For the stalks portion, thinly slice off the outer layer (may be too fibrous). Then slice the stalk in half (or thirds, if stalk is pretty thick).
2) Place pot on stove and turn temperture to high. Once the pot is warm, add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add in the garlic. Stir fry the garlic until it is light brown.
3) Add the chinese broccoli. Quickly stir it around and add the shiao hsing wine. It will sizzle, so quickly cover the pot with a lid.
4) After 1 min, open lid and add a few dashes of salt. Stir for about 2-3 more minutes and it should be done. Remember that you can also try it to see if it is cooked to your liking.

Dish 3: Eggplant and Oyster Mushroom

Ingredients:

• 3 chinese eggplants
• A bag of oyster mushrooms (about 6 mushrooms)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar

1) Wash the eggplants and mushrooms and slice them into small pieces.
2) Mix the sauce. In a bowl, add the sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar.
3) Place pan on stove and turn the temperature to high. Once the pot is warm, add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add in the garlic.
4) Add the eggplants. Stir fry for 30 secs.
5) Add the mushrooms. Stir for 1-2 minute or until all the oil is soaked up by the eggplants.
6) Add the sauce in and stir. After the sauce has been evenly distributed, place the lid on the pan.
7) Open lid every 3 minutes to stir the contents around (don’t want the eggplant/mushroom at the bottom of the pan to get burnt). Repeat about 3 times or until the eggplant becomes soft and almost mushy.

I didn’t actually time myself when I was making these dishes, but when the salmon was done baking, the other 2 were done cooking as well. :D