‘Shrooms

Someone gave The Cat a package of dehydrated mushrooms.

Package

Inside, a little brick of ‘shrooms.

Brick

(The quarter is for size reference)

Package Opened

Instructions (in Chinese) said to re-hydrate in warm water for at least an hour. It’s supposed to expand up to sixty times.

Re-Hydrated ‘Shrooms

More like three times the package size.

What to do with them?

Bought a package of belly pork (of course).

Belly Pork

Pork belly, ginger, the above ‘shrooms (with the soaking water), dark and light soy sauce, sugar, Shao Xing cooking wine, deep-fried tofu skin and water.

Pork Belly Braised in Soy Sauce

Was there any doubt?

The pork belly was a little too lean so the meat wasn’t “like buttah”, but the taste was there. and the ‘shrooms definitely showed it’s presence.

We have at least eight more packets of mushrooms. More to experiment with.

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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Mushrooms Unveiled and Another Mouse Bowl

The mushrooms, unveiled.

Vinegar Braised Mushrooms

I know, not very appetizing or appealing color-wise, but believe me, it’s a hit (if I do say so myself.

And my lunch yesterday.

Another Mouse Bowl

Used the rest of the yam noodles, ham chunks from the freezer, barbecued smoked pork belly from Whole Foods (I know, kind of a waste of the pork belly, but I had to use it up), green onions, and edible Hawaiian ferns (Pohole). IMHO, I should really consider opening a noodle shop (with real noodles).

Off to Chinese New Years gluttony (in moderation).

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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By Request

I’ve been asked to prepare my vinegar braised mushrooms for tomorrow’s family gathering. Properly, the process takes three days. It’s not labor intensive, there’s a lot of resting involved (not me, the preparation).

It starts with this.

Bottles

Goes into here.

Vinegar and Stuff (Includes Ginger)

First phase complete.

Vinegar Reduction

Reduced by two-thirds. The reduction rests in the refrig overnight. I dunno why, it just tastes better.

That was yesterday. Today, various mushrooms (portobello, dried shiitake, and white) were braised with the vinegar.

Another rest in the refrig overnight.

I’ll have a picture of the finished dish tomorrow.

If you’re curious enough, I know I posted about this before, can’t find the entry (old age).

Happy Chinese New Year’s Eve!

The Mouse

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Bits and Pieces

First time to the farmers market in several weeks.

White Mushrooms

I need these for the weekend. Chinese New Year’s gathering with the relatives.

Bananas

Ice Cream Bananas on the left, Honey Apple Bananas on the right.

Lavosh Remnants

One of my current favorites. We have a local Vietnamese French bakery that makes lavosh. These are the bits and pieces from the ends that they take off before packing. Rather than throw them out, they bag them and sell them cheap (half price of the regular pieces). Me, being the Chinese that I am, buy the bits and pieces instead of the regular sheets (I eat them as a snack anyway).  Hee hee.

My relatives will be happy (with the mushrooms), The Cat is happy (with the bananas), and The Mouse is happy (with the cheap snack).

A good market day all around.

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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The Bacon Chronicles

So, a friend of The Cat’s was organizing a “food exhibition” tonight. Last weekend, he called to say that there wasn’t enough participants and if I could contribute a dish. Sigh. That’s why the kitchen was a little discombobulated. There was no planning for cooking at the site. And no preparation area. Double sigh. I had to make something that could be eaten at room temperature. I decided to make bacon spread (I’ve posted about it a couple times before).

Jam Jars

I was going to present in one large container but then I found these cute jars, just right for individual servings.

Bacon Spread

For the presentation, I pan-seared turnip slices,

Pan-Seared Turnip Slices

and simmered Shiitake mushrooms in ponzu sauce.

Ponzu Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms

And plated individual plates for judging.

Here Comes The Judge

Alas, this did not win, not even place. To quote Yoda: “Wars not make one great”.  It was a huge hit at the table we sat on though. I brought extra for the public to sample. Didn’t turn out that way, we scarfed it at our own table.

At the request from a little friend, I also made a batch made with hot chocolate (no milk) instead of green tea.

Bacon Spread, Hot Chocolate Bacon Spread

I topped it with a sprinkle of Kauai sea salt. This one turned out very good (in my opinion) needs a little tweaking, but has great potential.

The kitchen will return to normal tomorrow.

Enjoy. Eat well.

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