Really? Two mushroom recipes in a row? Yes dear reader, you’re seeing it right. I made something with mushroom again. It’s officially my favorite kind of fungus.
In Vietnam, mushrooms, along with tofu, are the most popular ingredients for vegetarian food. Common varieties are straw, oyster and shitake. With their ‘meaty’ texture and subtle umami flavor, they are often chosen to substitute meat in many dishes.
Nevertheless, they work in non-vegetarian cooking too. My aunt buys a bunch of straw mushrooms when they are in season, sautés them lightly with garlic and scallion and stores the mixture in the freezer. This comes in handy when she needs to spice up her chicken congee and other different soups. As the mushrooms cook, they combine the flavor of the broth with their own sweetness only to release the essence of the congee when they pop in your mouth.
Meanwhile, my mom makes use of dried shitake for her fried rice, as fresh mushrooms have too much water content and could make the rice soggy. She rehydrates the caps in warm water, drains and slices them thinly. After that she browns them in the wok together with minced garlic, building an aromatic base for the rice to come in.
Then there’s a particular type of gilled mushroom called “nấm mối”, which is only available in the rainy season, making it a rare commodity that commands high prices. By observing the weather, my uncle knows when it is growing, so he ventures into our garden and starts foraging. A good season will yield him around 3 kg, which he freezes and distributes among our family. He even sent it to Singapore when I was still living there.
As the temperature drops, it’s only fitting to combine earthy mushrooms with the heat from bird’s eye chili and the warming aroma from lemongrass and garlic. I pair this with quinoa, some steamed cabbage and add an egg for a substantial meal, but you can also use this as a side dish for rice.
What you’ll need:
For the quinoa
3 tsp olive oil
Half a medium onion, diced (about 100 gr)
1 cup quinoa
1 ¾ cups water
A pinch of salt
1 stalk of scallion, thinly sliced
For the lemongrass mushroom
3 tsp olive oil
3 tbsp minced lemongrass (I keep a bag of frozen minced lemongrass in the
fridge and thaw when needed)
1 tsp minced garlic (1 clove)
1 bird’s eye chili (more if you want more heat)
400 gr mushroom of your choice, sliced into 3mm-thickness
1 tsp soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 stalk of scallion, thinly sliced
Here’s how:
To make the quinoa:
- In a sauce pan, sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent and fragrant.
- Toss the quinoa in to coat evenly with the oil.
- Add water and salt and let simmer on medium heat until all liquid evaporates (around 20 minutes).
- When the quinoa is about to be done, toss in the scallion and turn off the heat.
To make the mushroom:
- In a sauce pan, sauté the lemongrass, garlic and chili until fragrant.
- Add in the mushroom slices and soy sauce and continue to cook on medium heat until they shrink half in size (around 20-25 minutes).
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- When it’s about to be done, toss in the scallion and turn off the heat.
