Mushroom powder in everything
Everyone is always talking about umami and how it’s supposed to be the ultimate goal in every savory dish. Want to add an extra spoonful of umami to your food? Make sure you always have a jar of mushroom powder at the ready.
I increasingly spot mushroom powder in the ingredient lists of Chinese recipes written by American chefs or bloggers. I had absolutely no idea where to buy it, so I usually just skipped it—and my food was still incredibly delicious. Until I bought the cookbook from Mission Chinese, a restaurant in San Francisco and New York. If you don’t know it yet, you should watch season 6 of Mind of a Chef, featuring chef and owner Danny Bowien. Anyway, the book explains how to make this miracle ingredient. All you have to do is turn dried mushrooms into powder in the blender. Well, even I can do that. You can too, by the way.
In everything
Grind the mushrooms (I use shiitake, but you can choose another variety too) as finely as possible and pass them through a sieve to remove the larger pieces. The powder will keep for a very long time in a sealed container or jar. What do you do with it next? Sprinkle a spoonful over your stir-fried bok choy with garlic and ginger, add it to the pan when making braised meat, mix it into your dry rub when making chicken wings, stir it into the sauce for your noodles, or sprinkle it over a fried egg if you like. Believe me, mushroom powder will make your life a whole lot better, and it’s important that you make it as soon as possible.
Superfood
A quick search on Google mainly leads me to health websites. For around €20, you can buy a bag full of the stuff. If we are to believe the websites in question, it helps with just about everything. It’s good for the immune system, chronic fatigue, kidney and liver diseases, stomach ulcers and herpes pain. One website even sells it for €69 as part of Egoboost Inner Beauty Powder. But you can just as easily get a bag at the Asian supermarket for a few euros. How did we ever live without this stuff?
Read also:
