In this series, we’ll be looking at ingredients which are common in Chinese supermarkets (超市, chāo shì), but may be rare or expensive in our home countries. Each post includes a recipe, so you can start exploring a new world of food!

In my last post, I was diverted from my mushroom hunt by the rare opportunity to sample delicious morels. However, the Chinese supermarket regularly features a range of exotic and interesting fungi, at bargain prices. My local chāoshì lets you pick three different packets for RMB 10, a bargain indeed. For this recipe though I ended up using only two.

Shiitake mushrooms are usually known in the west by their Japanese name, and as the alternative, “Chinese black mushroom” is also used for the wood ear, we’ll stick to it here. They’re cheap as chips here, but I find that their strong flavor needs to be handled with care, or can be overwhelming.

Enoki mushrooms have a satisfying crunch and work well in stir-fries and salads.

My recipe uses one more distinctively Chinese fungus-based ingredient.

The supermarket has a range of exciting chili oils and sauces which I have been experimenting with, and this mushroom chili oil is a key ingredient in my:

Mushroom Rice Bake

What you’ll need
– 2 cups of rice, cooked
– Mushroom (around 200g)
– Two large leeks
– One head of broccoli
– Garlic
– 1 jar of mushroom oil chili
– 2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock

Instructions

1. Get the oven heating to 180 degrees Celsius.

2. Chop and fry the leeks in an oven-proof casserole dish. Chop the broccoli into small florets and discard the stems (you can use them in the stock if throwing them away pains you, or in a soup, if you’re using stock cubes.) Add the broccoli to the dish and fry too, nice and hot so it browns a little. Clean and chop the mushrooms, and chuck them in as well. Add garlic to your preference; I love garlic and use a whole head, peeled and finely sliced. When it all smells fabulous stir in the mushroom chili oil, then the rice.

3. Pour in the stock, mix thoroughly, then transfer from the hob to the oven. (I used to top it with cheese, as in the picture below, but I’ve decided this is an unnecessary indulgence, though you might like to top with breadcrumbs, if you have them handy.) After 30 minutes, serve and enjoy!

Photos: epicurious.com, Andrew Killeen

In this series, we’ll be looking at ingredients which are common in Chinese supermarkets (超市,chāo shì) , but may be rare or expensive in our home countries. Each post includes a recipe, so you can start exploring a new world of food!

This post was going to be about mushrooms generally, but while gathering ingredients I came across something particularly exciting: morels. If your local supermarket stocks this fabulous fungus then I urge you to try some now, while it’s in season.

Morels in the wild

At nearly RMB 300 per kilogram, it’s not exactly cheap, but that’s still almost half the price you’d pay in Europe or the US (if you can find morels at all.) The reason it’s so expensive is that the morel has resisted all attempts to cultivate it, and can only be found in the wild, where it mostly grows on trees. The morel doesn’t have the same glamorous reputation as its subterranean cousin the truffle, but for my money it’s a richer and more complex experience: woody, nutty, and meaty, delicious with either a full white like a Chardonnay or a luscious red such as Primitivo.

Its subtle flavor is best enjoyed cooked simply, but the challenge is cleaning them. All those little holes in the cap can hide dirt or worms. (I still cringe with horror at the memory of the time I cooked risotto for a group of writers in Latvia with wild mushrooms from the market, but didn’t clean them properly, so everyone sat munching on grit with brave smiles.)

Soak the morels in salted water to clean them

Opinion is bitterly divided on the internet (as it is about so many things) between advocates of soaking and dry brushing. I went for soaking, in part because of my Latvian experience but also because the morels felt quite dry. The results were fine, so here is my recipe for preparing and cooking morels:

1. Rinse the morels in clean water.
2. Pour a cup of boiling water into a bowl, and add salt (enough to kill any lurking life, but not so much as to ruin the flavor; a couple of tablespoons should do it.) Then add cold water until the bowl reaches room temperature. You don’t want to boil your mushrooms!
3. Soak the morels in the salted water for 15-20 minutes, then drain. Remove any stray bits.
4. Cut the morels in half lengthwise. Remove any remaining dirt inside with a damp piece of kitchen roll.

Morels cut and cleaned, ready for cooking

5. Get a heavy frying pan nice and hot, then dry fry the morels for a couple of minutes until they brown. Add a pat of butter and saute. At the last minute, chuck in a little splash of wine to deglaze the pan. Serve and savor.

Photos: Kelly via Pexels, Sharksbaja via Wikimedia Commons, Andrew Killeen

In this series, we’ll be looking at ingredients which are common in Chinese supermarkets (超市,chāo shì) , but may be rare or expensive in our home countries. Each post includes a recipe, so you can start exploring a new world of food!

Black rice is sometimes known as “Forbidden Rice”, not because of its forbidding appearance, but from the idea that it was once reserved only for the Emperor and his family. The price is certainly forbidding in the west, where its been hailed as a “superfood”, and features in many a hipster’s bowl.

Black rice is the same basic species as plain old white, Oryza sativa, so is it really as good for you as some claim? Nutritionist Jessica Cording, quoted in mensjournal.com, says it has a similar nutritional profile to brown rice, packed with fiber, but higher in vitamin E and lower in calories. And its black color is derived from high levels of anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant which also puts the blue in blueberries. The alleged benefits of antioxidants are still controversial, but there is some evidence linking black rice with reduced cholesterol.

Most importantly though it’s delicious, with a sweeter, nuttier taste than brown rice and a more forgiving texture. You’ll usually find it in Chinese supermarkets in vacuum sealed packets with the dried beans and pulses, near the hot pot ingredients. At around RMB 15-20 for 500g it’s pricier than standard white rice, but much cheaper than back home. So why not treat yourself to something special?

(Note for the health conscious: all rice in China carries trace amounts of arsenic. If this concerns you, then don’t use a rice cooker or the “full absorption” technique. Cook the rice in excess water, then drain it and throw the cooking water away.)

You can use black rice pretty much anywhere you’d use the standard stuff, but this recipe is a favorite of ours for the nights where everyone’s coming home hungry at a different time, and sitting down together for a hot meal isn’t an option.

Black Rice and Pumpkin Salad

Ingredients (feeds four hungry people):

250g black rice (about 2 cups)
One medium pumpkin (you can use any squash, or even sweet potatoes)
2 good size cucumbers, chopped
100g cherry tomatoes
A handful of sliced green onions (or finely chopped red onion, if you prefer)
180g bacon (this is the standard small size packet in supermarkets)
100g almonds (toasted if you can be bothered)
A large lemon
Olive oil (if you’re feeling adventurous, you can try good quality peanut oil instead)
Cumin and/ or paprika
Pepper
Salt

1. (The night before Wash the rice thoroughly, and put it in a bowl, covered with water. Leave to stand overnight.

2. Drain the rice and wash again. Cook it in plenty of salted water for 30 minutes, drain, and leave to cool. While it’s cooking:
3. Cut the pumpkin in half, scrape out all the seeds and stringy bits with a spoon, then peel it and chop it into one inch chunks. (Don’t stress too much about getting them the exact size, it’s not a big deal.) Put the chunks on a baking tray or dish, season with cumin and/ or paprika (to your taste), splash over a good glug of oil, and mix it all up with your hands. Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 celsius). While it’s cooking:
4. Fry or grill the bacon till it’s crispy, then, when it’s cool, break it into little bits.
5. Zest the lemon, then squeeze out all the juice.
6. When the rice and the pumpkin have cooled a little, mix them in a big bowl with the cucumber, onions, tomatoes, almonds, bacon bits, and lemon zest. (I sometimes add feta cheese, though this is cheating for the purposes of this blog, which is about using local ingredients!)
7. To make the dressing, mix the lemon juice with half as much oil. Add to your taste, and season with salt and pepper if you like. (You may find the bacon makes it salty enough).

The great thing about this recipe is that you can change or swap pretty much any of the ingredients as you like. Aim for a sweet and nutty combination that will really complement the flavor of the black rice – and enjoy a dish fit for an Emperor’s table!

Photo: Anna Frodesiak via Wikimedia Commons