Ingredients
| MUSHROOM KETCHUP | |
| 500g shiitake mushrooms | |
| 1 large onion, diced | |
| 2 tablespoons (approx) olive oil or canola oil | |
| 40g dried porcini mushrooms | |
| 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar | |
| ½ teaspoon ground mace | |
| ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg | |
| 1 teaspoon garlic powder | |
| 60ml malt vinegar | |
| 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce | |
| 1 tablespoon lemon juice | |
| PICKLED ENOKI MUSHROOMS | |
| 600ml water | |
| 400ml white vinegar | |
| 200g sugar | |
| 2 fresh garlic cloves | |
| 2-3 stems fresh thyme | |
| 2 whole star anise | |
| 4 dried bay leaves | |
| 2 dried makrut lime leaves | |
| ½ teaspoon peppercorns | |
| 500g enoki mushrooms | |
| DRIED MUSHROOM & SEAWEED POWDER | |
| 50g dried oyster mushrooms | |
| 50g nori sheets | |
| BARBECUED OYSTER MUSHROOMS | |
| 500g grey oyster mushrooms | |
| ¼ cup confit garlic oil | |
| RICE-NORI CRACKERS | |
| 1 egg white | |
| 1 x 227g pack rice paper (approx 20 sheets) | |
| 1 pack nori sheets (approx 10 sheets) | |
| oil for deep frying | |
| TO ASSEMBLE | |
| 100g pekepeke kiore/coral tooth mushrooms | |
| 200g rice flour |
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Instructions
| 1. | MUSHROOM KETCHUP |
| 2. | Slice the shiitake mushrooms, smoke over a low heat on the barbecue, then finely dice. |
| 3. | Using a large pot, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan, then sauté the onion with a pinch of salt over a medium heat. |
| 4. | Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in 200ml boiling water for at least 5 minutes. |
| 5. | Reserve the liquid and add the rehydrated mushrooms to the pot. |
| 6. | Add the sugar, mace, nutmeg and garlic powder to the pot along with the diced mushrooms and heat gently for 5 minutes, until the spices smell fragrant and the fresh mushrooms start to break down and release water. |
| 7. | Add the vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice and simmer on a low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring often to cook evenly and avoid sticking. |
| 8. | Blitz in batches in a high-power blender, adding the reserved liquid if necessary to achieve the right consistency – you want it to be smooth but with texture and able to hold its shape when spread on a cracker. |
| 9. | PICKLED ENOKI MUSHROOMS |
| 10. | Rub the herbs to bruise them and release more flavour, and crush or toast the whole spices if you want. |
| 11. | Put all the ingredients except the mushrooms into a small pot. |
| 12. | Bring the liquid to the boil then remove from the heat and pour into a heat-safe container. |
| 13. | Break the enoki mushrooms into 1cm-thick pieces, saving the smaller ones to fry later. |
| 14. | Once the liquid has cooled to room temperature, add the mushrooms, making sure they’re all submerged. |
| 15. | Put into the fridge for 3-5 hours. |
| 16. | Before serving, place the mushrooms on a paper towel to drain excess moisture. |
| 17. | DRIED MUSHROOM & SEAWEED POWDER |
| 18. | Give the nori sheets a quick blast with a blowtorch until they crisp up and change colour slightly – only give them a very quick blast or they will burn (or do this on an open grill or barbecue or on the gas jets of a gas stovetop). |
| 19. | Put into a mini food processor with the dried mushrooms and blitz to a powder. Stir in some flaky salt to taste. |
| 20. | This makes more than you need, but it will keep in a jar stored somewhere cool and dark. |
| 21. | BARBECUED OYSTER MUSHROOMS |
| 22. | Shred the grey oyster mushrooms and season with some flaky salt, add the confit garlic oil and toss, coating the mushrooms. |
| 23. | Barbecue over open coals until tender and smoky. |
| 24. | RICE-NORI CRACKERS |
| 25. | Put the egg white into a bowl and fill another bowl with water. |
| 26. | On a clean surface, brush one sheet of rice paper with water and stick a sheet of nori to it. |
| 27. | Brush it again with water and stick on another piece of rice paper. Brush both sides with egg white. |
| 28. | Repeat for all the rice paper and nori sheets. |
| 29. | Working carefully, fry the crackers at 150°C for 3 minutes. |
| 30. | It’s important that the sheets are fully submerged, so use a spider to hold them down. |
| 31. | Drain on a paper towel, immediately season with salt and dried mushroom and seaweed powder. |
| 32. | When cool, break each sheet into four pieces. |
| 33. | TO ASSEMBLE |
| 34. | Toss the reserved small enoki mushrooms in rice flour, shaking off any excess. |
| 35. | Carefully place into the hot oil (after frying the crackers) and cook until golden, 2-3 minutes. |
| 36. | Drain on paper and season with salt. |
| 37. | Assemble the snack by spreading or piping a good base of mushroom ketchup to a piece of nori cracker, and layer on the pickled enoki mushrooms and barbecued oyster mushrooms. |
| 38. | Sprinkle the delicate pekepeke kiore and fried enoki mushrooms on the top. |
Photography Bad Panda Productions