Mushroom International ala Tapioca
He promised he will whipped up something for me. Something special. One of Tapioca's pride, ladies and gentlemen...
...Mushroom International
3 different types of mushrooms sauteed in different cooking oils, with tomato sauce and ground pork topped with silken tofu. Pair it with rice or pasta or eat it on its own. Verdict? We loved it! It's a whole new kind of experience happening in your mouth because of all flavors and textures.
Tapioca was generous enough to share the recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 kilo ground pork
- 3 types of mushroom (shitake, button mushroom, black fungus, etc)
- 1 yellow onion
- 4 pcs of garlic
- 1 whole block of tofu
- olive oil
- sesame oil
- oyster sauce
- Tabasco pepper sauce
- 500grams of Italian tomato sauce
- salt
- white and black pepper
Procedure:
- Dice the onions and garlic into tiny bits. Set aside.
- Depending on what mushrooms you choose, slice them into strips. Length should be no bigger than an inch. But if you use champignons mushrooms (button mushrooms) just lay them on there back and slice them thinly.
- Now gently take your tofu. You may use the whole contents of the container or half slice the tofu into small cubes no bigger then a 10 centavos coin. After slicing set aside.
- You will need 2 pans. 1 small pan and a larger pan. Use the smaller pan to cook the ground pork until brown. Remove any excess oil after cooking. Set aside.
- Heat up your larger pan that would make it hot enough to bring a droplet of water to evaporate. Now add sesame oil to the pan and wait a second or two before adding the mushrooms. Add salt and white pepper for taste. Toss the mushrooms every so often so they don't burn. Continue sauteing them till most of the moisture is gone. Set aside.
- Now use the same pan and some virgin olive oil. Add your diced garlic and onions. Cook until you see some of the garlic pieces turning brown. Add the pork and mix together. Saute for 5 minutes then add some oyster sauce for taste. Stir until all pork is coated by the oyster sauce. Add a couple of dashes of Tabasco. Add salt and black pepper for taste.
- Add cooked mushrooms into the pan with pork. Continue sauteing for a couple minutes while tossing. When you see that all ingredients have been mixed together, add the 500 grams of tomato sauce. Continue to stir the tomato sauce until everything is coated. Don't stop stirring because the sauce will stick and burn. Stop after 3 minutes.
- Place on a platter and add the tofu cubes on top. Enjoy!
Note: Try to buy a tofu that is smooth and silky to the tongue. I used Chinese tofu made by White Swan.
You may eat this with pasta or rice. If you decide to use pasta, try using penne rigate and add 250mgs to 500mgs more tomato sauce with a lot less oil or with a fare amount of tomato paste so you get an added zing.
Next time I will ask him to demonstrate how to cook this.
