Congee with Crispy Mushrooms
Recipe byIf you intend to serve this for breakfast, the best way to cook the congee is in the slow cooker, overnight, using the lowest setting.In theory, just about any mushroom can be battered and fried, and used as topping for congee. But oyster mushrooms, the variety used here, are unique because they have plenty of crevices to catch the batter and make it stick better.
Ingredients
Crispy mushrooms
- 500 grams fresh oyster mushrooms
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 large egg
- ¾ to 1 cup corn starch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- cooking oil for deep frying
Complete the dish
- 8 cups cooked congee (the link goes to full instructions)
- finely sliced scallions
- aonori
- spicy furikake
Instructions
Fry the mushrooms
- Tear large mushrooms vertically into two to three portions.
- Place all the mushrooms in a large mixing bowl and toss with the salt and pepper.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg then pour into the bowl with the mushrooms. Mix well to coat each piece of mushroom with egg.
- Whisk together half of the starch with the baking powder and dump into the bowl with the egg-coated mushrooms.
- Mix to distribute evenly. The mixture should be a bit wet. If too wet (that can happen if the egg is quite large), you may add more starch, a tablespoon at a time.
- Heat the wok. Pour in enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least three inches at the center.
- When the oil reaches 350F, fry the oyster mushrooms in batches until golden and crisp.
- Drain the cooked mushrooms on a rack or shallow strainer, cook the next batch, and so on, until all the mushrooms have been fried.
Assemble the congee
- Ladle hot congee into four bowls.
- Drop pieces of fried mushrooms on top.
- Sprinkle in the scallions, aonori and spicy furikake.