SPICY SESAME KING OYSTER MUSHROOMS

• doses: SERVES 4

Ingredientes

THE SAUCE

1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster

sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese sesame paste, homemade (page 305) or store-bought

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon pale rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

12 ounces (336 grams) king oyster mushrooms

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons ground chiles or chili flakes

2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teasp0ons toasted sesame seeds

Kosher salt

Thinly sliced scallion greens

or finely chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Instruções

MAKE THE SAUCE: In a small bowl, whisk together all the sauce

ingredients until smooth. Set aside

Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp cloth and trim off any tough bits on the root end. Cut them crosswise into int 3-inch segments, then

toar each into 4-inch shreds with your fingers.

Deinr a not of water to a boil and blanch the shredded mushrooms

for 2 minutes, until the water comes to a b0il again and you can smell the mushroom's woodsy fragrance. Rinse the shreds under cold water and drain them well, then squeeze out the water between your hands.

Heat a seasoned wok over medium-high heat until a bead of water evaporates on its surface within 1 second of contact. Add the vegetable oil and swirl to coat the sides of the wok. Sizzle the minced garlic brieflyy until fragrant but not yet colored, 30 seconds.

Iip in the mushrooms and stir a few times to pick up the fragrant O1, then let them sear for 30 seconds, until they just start to brown. HOd the chiles, cumin, and sesame seeds. Stir in the sauce, coating

the mushrooms, and cook until they are piping hot and glazed, a few seconds. Taste and season with salt. Transfer the mushrooms to a dish, garnish with scallion greens, and serve.

Notas

King oyster mushrooms are the big "bois" the hunks of the mush- rOom world, and one of the most versatile due to their thick, mild- favored, and spongy white stalks, which can be cut into all sorts of shapes. In one of my favorite transformations, you score thin round slices with crosshatched cuts, roll and fasten them with toothpicks, and fry them into mock squid slices. You can also cut them into cubes (Kung Pao Mushrooms, page 226) or tear them into strips. Like all mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms release water when they're cooked, so to prevent sogginess, I blanch them and gently squeeze out their liquid before stir-frying. Tumbled in the hot wok, the ivory mushroom shreds take on color and grow chewier as they caramelize in the sweet-and-sour sauce, laced with ground chiles and cumin, rich sesame paste, and a nutty fragrance from the Shaoxing wine.