Mistresses of the megastars

An earthy twist on an old favorite 以菇代肉，素食改良版“咕噜肉”依旧酸甜可口

As Chinese dishes go, there are several that flex their muscles, standing out globally to serve as tasty bastions of the nation, such as kung pao chicken, Peking duck, spring rolls and, of course, that king of Western-Chinese cuisine, sweet and sour pork (咕噜肉). These food megastars each have their attendant mistresses. One such dish is, the ever tarty, sweet and sour mushrooms.

Sweet and sour mushrooms (咕噜菇), as one might guess, attained their English name because of their distinctive tangy taste. The sweet and sour sauce (糖醋酱) is a combination popular throughout numerous regional Chinese cuisines. Traditionally, the sweet and sour dish uses pork tenderloin as its main ingredient, coupled with green and red bell peppers, as well as onions and pineapple. The sauce provides flavor for the pork, its sharpness seeping into the meat itself, as well as the crispy flour shell. By substituting meat with a vegetarian choice, in this case mushrooms, we end up with a vegetarian sweet and sour dish that still packs a mean punch.

The name for sweet and sour dishes in Chinese, or gulao (咕噜) is more interesting than its English counterpart and somewhat puzzling as well. Gulao is a gulping sound; there are multiple theories as to why a dish is named after an onomatopoeia. One is that the sweet and sour flavor is so mouthwateringly enticing that whoever smells it instantly has to swallow at the mere thought of the tangy juices in their mouth. Another theory is that gulaorou derives from gu lao rou (古老肉, literally ancient meat).

Sweet and sour mushrooms are cooked in much the same way as sweet and sour pork; the texture of the mushrooms shares is very similar to that of meat, though they obviously impart a more earthy taste. The two kinds of mushrooms used in this vegetarian version are the brilliantly named monkey head mushroom (猴头菇, Hericium erinaceus) because of its appearance and the almond abalone mushroom (杏鲍菇, Pleurotus eryngii) because of its fragrance and texture. With a tender texture and an almost almond flavor, the soft almond abalone mushroom tastes rich, with autumnal echoes abounding on the palate.

Highly nutritious, the mushroom is rich in protein, minerals and vitamins, yet low in fat. With no saturated fat, it helps to lower cholesterol and prevent aging. In imperial China it was offered to the Emperor as a precious tribute from outside the palace. During the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280), the divine lion’s mane mushroom was already a widespread favorite of the Middle Kingdom diet. It was even recorded that: “民皆好啖猴头羹，虽五肉臛不能及之” (All people loved to eat the monkey head mushroom soup; stew with five types of meat could not match it), high-praise indeed for this not-so-humble mushroom. With their flour coating, both mushrooms achieve a crisp and crackly outside, while the tender, juicy and chewy flesh remains inside. If you are tired of sweet and sour pork yet still crave its decadent flavor, then sweet and sour mushrooms may well be the answer.

Recipe | Sweet and sour mushrooms

Ingredients

70g monkey head mushrooms 猴头菇

70g almond abalone mushrooms 杏鲍菇

40g red and green peppers (sliced) 红椒和青椒

200g pineapple (60g sliced, 140g grinded) 菠萝

2 eggs 鸡蛋

60g sweet potato powder 红薯粉

60g corn starch 淀粉

40g ketchup 番茄酱

15g sugar 糖

30ml white vinegar 白醋

6g salt 盐

400ml vegetable oil 植物油

Method

1. In a bowl, coat the monkey head mushrooms with an egg evenly. Add half the corn starch and sweet potato powder. Heat the oil to 170 C, and deep fry the monkey head mushrooms for one to two minutes until they turn golden. Prepare the almond abalone mushrooms with the same method but shorten the fry time by 30 seconds. Put both batches into a bowl on the side.

2. Stir-fry pineapple slices and pepper slices briefly, then put them in a separate bowl. Heat the ketchup in a wok and add white vinegar and salt. Toss the mushrooms for coating.

3. For the sauce, grind 140g pineapple; in a wok, heat until the remaining pieces soften with low heat. Pour the mixture into a bowl and beat it until even.

4. Pour the pineapple sauce onto the plate, and then place the mushrooms one by one to style the dish, followed by the pepper and pineapple slices on the side.

Serve hot.

Courtesy of The World of Chinese, www.theworldofchinese.com

The World of Chinese

(China Daily Africa Weekly 04/04/2014 page27)