Assamese Stir-Fried Mushrooms with Egg-Fried Rice Parcels, by Vivek Singh at The Cinnamon Club

Serves

4

Prep Time

60 mins

Cooking Time

60 mins

Ingredients

For the mushrooms

• 700g shiitake, chestnut or closed cup mushrooms, kept whole but stems removed, washed and dried
• oil for deep frying

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For the marinade

• 4 tbsp cornflour
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
• 1 tsp salt

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For the omelettes

• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

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For the egg-fried rice

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 50g green beans, finely chopped
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• 2.5cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 50g shelled peas, fresh or thawed (preferably petit pois)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of ground black pepper
• 1 egg
• 250g basmati rica
• 2 tbsp sesame oil

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For the stir-fry

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 dried red chillies broken into smaller pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 red onions
• 100g tender bamboo shoots, sliced 5mm thick
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1tsp red chilli powder
• 1tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon chives, chopped

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Method

• First make the omelettes. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly with the soy sauce.
• Heat a few drops of oil in a large, non-stick frying pan and pour in one-quarter of the egg mixture. Cook, without stirring, on a medium-high heat until the omelette begins to set, then remove the pan from the heat (without turning the omelette over) and leave the omelette to finish cooking in the residual heat.
• Remove from the pan and make 3 more.
• Set aside and keep warm.
• Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade in a large bowl, add the mushrooms and set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the egg-fried rice. Heat the oil in the frying pan, add the beans, chillies, ginger and the peas and carrot, if using, and stir-fry, on a high heat, for 1 minute. Add the soy sauce, ketchup, salt and pepper and stir-fry for another minute.
• Break the egg into the pan and scramble, on a high heat, for 30 seconds, then fold in the rice and sesame oil and stir until mixed well and heated through.
• Lay the omelettes on a work surface, divide the egg-fried rice between them and wrap each to make a neat parcel. Set aside and keep hot.
• To deep-fry the mushrooms, heat enough oil for deep-frying in a deep-fat fryer or a deep, heavy-based saucepan to 190°C. If necessary shake any excess liquid off the mushrooms before deep-frying for about 3 minutes, until they are crisp and golden. Drain well on kitchen paper.
• For the stir-fry, heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan until smoking point. Add the dried red chillies and stir them quickly.
• As they start to darken, quickly stir in the garlic. Almost immediately it will start to change colour.
• Now add the onions and the deep-fried mushrooms and stir-fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add the bamboo shoots and stir for another couple of minutes.
• Add the sugar, chilli powder, cumin and salt and stir-fry for another minute. Add the soy sauce and mix well.
• Finish with the lemon juice and sprinkle with the spring onions and chopped chives.
• Serve immediately with the egg-fried-rice parcels.

• Vivek’s Tip: The secret of any stir-is that you should never let the heat in the pan go down; the heat of your burners should always be on maximum the whole time, add an ingredient to the pan only when you think it is hot enough.