#ewew cooks (Low-Carb) Mushrooms & Eggs

For many of us, cutting out or limiting carbs is a lifelong endeavour. >_<  Some do it for health reasons, while others do it to reduce weight (or to keep their weight at a desired level).  It's easier said than done when rice is a staple in our lives (especially for us Chinese).  And then, there are noodles that's even harder to resist.

Like everyone else, I also try my best to reduce my consumption of carbs by eating less rice or no rice as much as possible.  But limiting noodles is way harder to do coz it's just not the same eating a bowl of ingredients without the noodles! >_<  The thing with me also is when I don't eat carbs, I feel hungry within the next 2 - 3 hours after eating (and, sometimes, my hands will shake)...and I have to quickly grab something to eat (preferably carbs!) to diffuse the situation.

Recently I stumbled upon one dish (that I cooked and ate without rice) which didn't make me hungry (until my next scheduled meal time)...and that was this low carb dish of Mushrooms & Eggs.  Well, I love mushrooms and eggs to begin with, so I thought why not put the two together and make a meal out of it.

I start with a non-stick pan with some olive oil on medium-high heat (not advisable for non-stick pans to use high heat as it can damage the non-stick surface).  If you're using a steel pan, perhaps you can go on high heat.  Add a glug of olive oil and drop your mushrooms in.  Scatter them into one layer so that the heat can sear the mushrooms properly.

I'm using fresh shiitake mushrooms here and seared them for a while first before adding in the shimeji mushrooms and garlic slices.  Season lightly.

After the mushrooms have been well seared, I add in the spring onions.  Don't forget to season your mushrooms and spring onions (lightly) again at this point.

Once the spring onions are nicely wilted, I cracked in two eggs.  As you can see, three eggs would have been better for the amount of mushrooms I had in the pan but I know I wouldn't be able to finish three eggs.

Then, I puncture the egg yolks so that it can run over the contents in the pan.  Season again (the eggs this time).  I feel that seasoning lightly at each layer of cook gives rise to a more well seasoned dish overall.

Then flip the eggs and cook the other side.....and it's pretty much done! ;)  If you're not a fan of spring onions, you can substitute with beansprouts which works pretty well too in this dish.

So simple and quick.  It's one of my favourite dishes to cook when I'm going low carb.  As I've mentioned before, it's difficult for me not to eat (some) carbs as I tend to go hungry very quickly.

This one dish, or should I say one ingredient, was able to stave off my hunger.  I'm not sure why but mushrooms tend to be hearty and filling.  Maybe that's why they're widely eaten by vegans and vegetarians as a meat replacement because of its meaty-like texture and filling nature.

As we all know, shiitake mushrooms have an intense flavour (even more intense if they're dried shiitake mushrooms) and, let's face it, they aren't as tasty as other mushrooms.  So, if I want to pay a little bit more, I would use fresh button mushrooms for this dish.

Now for those of you who tend to end up with soggy (button) mushrooms, let me share with you the way I do it to get perfect mushrooms each and every time in 3 simple steps.  I can't say these are tips on how to get the best sauteed mushrooms as I'm not sure if I'm doing it the right way but it's my way (from experience)...and, hopefull,y no more soggy mushrooms from now on with this method.

Advice #1 - To prep the mushrooms (I'm using swiss brown mushrooms here), first of all, do not wash them. Use a damn cloth and wipe off the little bit of dirt you find on the mushroom caps.  Advice #2 - Do not cut them too thinly.  I cut them into 3 - 4 slices depending on the size of the mushrooms (sometimes I'd cut them into quarters).  Into the pan on medium-high heat it goes with some olive oil.

Advice #3 - Resist the temptation to stir the mushrooms.  Let them sit and brown.  Once you see some browning happening, flip the mushrooms.  I noticed that stirring them around too vigorously (especially if they're cut thinly), the mushrooms tend to release water.  It is also said that brown mushrooms hold less water than white mushrooms, so you can try both to see if there's any difference.  I do remember getting soggy white mushrooms but that was a long time ago before realising how best to cook them, so I can't say for certain if it's due to them being white mushrooms since I now only cook brown mushrooms.

The whole process shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.  Once you're happy with the browning in your mushrooms, you can dish up and serve (with your big breakfast, for example).  I removed the mushrooms too (as I don't want them to sweat and become soggy) before I proceeded with the cooking of the rest of my dish.

Next, I sauteed the spring onions (like a lot!) and sliced garlic, separately this time.  I wanted to get the spring onions (as well as garlic) well charred.  

Then I returned the cooked button mushrooms back into the pan and cracked two eggs in.  Don't forget to season at every layer of the cook.

Flip the eggs and it's done! ;)  As we all know, button mushrooms can be expensive based on the price-to-quantity ratio.  So, for a cheaper alternative, you can use fresh shiitake mushrooms instead.

Not only does this dish make me feel full until my next scheduled meal, these button mushrooms also taste juicy and tasty.  I've always preferred swiss brown mushrooms to white button mushrooms as I find the former has a firmer texture with a much deeper, earthier and robust umami flavour than their white cousins.

This is a dish of eggs & mushrooms...and you can pretty well use just about any mushrooms you like such as white button, swiss brown, portobello, porcini, trumpet, shimeji or oyster mushrooms (but probably not enoki mushrooms, I wouldn't suggest that since they tend to release quite a bit of water).

Both mushrooms and eggs are considered a low GI and low GL food.  They're low in carbs and they won't spike your blood sugar levels (so they're highly recommended for people with diabetes).  For vegetarians who eat eggs, this can be an ideal dish for them too. ^_~

#ewew cooks Braised Pork Ribs with Abalone, Scallops & Mushrooms

This was a dish I cooked during the last Chinese New Year (CNY).  Yeah, I know, it's been languishing in my draft folder for months.  I meant to write (and publish) it but then the Movement Control Order (MCO) kicked in and I was preoccupied with writing other posts.

I got the inspiration to cook this dish when I visited my mom for lunch just before CNY.  She made a braised pork ribs dish with pre-fried chicken feet, vegetarian beancurd and dried Chinese mushrooms.  I enjoyed the dish so much that I took the leftovers home.

That made me ask my mom how long the ribs have to be braised in order for it to turn out so tender and was surprised when she told me anything from 40 - 50 minutes will do.  What?!....that's all, I thought it needed hours and hours of braising.

Hmmm, I'm game for that...which inspired me to replicate the dish but tweaking the ingredients slightly (for Chinese New Year).  Since I still had two cans of (gifted) abalone in my pantry, I thought why not...let's bring out that luxurious ingredient.  So, here's my take on Braised Pork Ribs with Abalone, Scallops & Mushrooms.

Ingredients:

1 kg pork ribs, chopped (by the butcher) into about 3-inch lengths

20 dried Chinese mushrooms (large), soaked & cut into halves

15 - 20 dried mini scallops, soaked in a little water

1 can Skylight abalone (which yielded about 10 small ones), halved

1 can button mushrooms (large), halved

10 shallots, peeled & sliced

Oyster, dark & light soy sauce for seasoning
A little oil for sauteing

Preparation:

Preparing the pork ribs is probably the most time consuming part of this cook.  Wash the ribs thoroughly by rubbing the bones to get rid of any small bits of bone fragments (these loose bone bits could arise during the chopping of the bones by your butcher as the bones of ribs are really hard).  I like to trim off the excess fats around the ribs too but you can leave them on if you enjoy a bit of fats in your ribs.

The rest is pretty easy....soak the mushrooms and scallops and halve the abalones and mushrooms (or you can leave them whole if you want a nicer presentation).

Method:

Fry shallots in a little oil till translucent but not browned.  The more shallots the better as they provide the aromatics for the dish and help thicken the sauce too.

Add pork ribs to sear lightly.  You can choose to steep your pork ribs in hot water first to remove the impurities.  I didn't coz this is one case where you can get away with not doing this step since the sauce is darkly coloured and the scum won't be very visible (you can still skim off the scum if you want to).

Next, add the softened dried Chinese mushrooms into the mix.  Pour the dried scallops in together with the water that was used to soak the scallops.

Add the water from the soaked mushrooms as well as the liquid from the can of abalone (but not the liquid from the can of button mushrooms, that you can discard as it tastes sour).  Give it a good stir to mix everything together.

Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for between 40 - 50 minutes (covered) until pork ribs are tender.  I seasoned the sauce with a combination of dark soy (just a little for colour), oyster sauce and light soy.  I will not tell you how much seasoning to use as that depends on how much water you use + the soaking liquid of the abalones can also be salty (depending on the brand you're using).  So, taste, taste, taste.  Underseason at this point as the simmering will cause the sauce to reduce and intensify in flavour.

Add the abalones in around 10 minutes before the end of the cooking period.  At this point taste the sauce and tweak the seasoning to ensure it's right...and to your satisfaction.  And if you think there is too much sauce, that won't be the case as it'll never be enough coz the mushrooms tend to soak up the liquid while sitting idly in the pot.

The ready-to-eat button mushrooms need just 5 minutes to warm up in the sauce.  I added the button mushrooms coz I just wanted more mushrooms in my dish (this ingredient is totally optional).  I'd probably omit this the next time I cook this again as the button mushrooms didn't do anything to the dish.

And there you have it.....my pot of cooked Braised Pork Ribs with Abalone, Scallops & Mushrooms.  Perfect for any celebration with its premium ingredients of abalone, scallops and mushrooms....though I didn't cook it for our reunion makan since my sister-in-law chose to cook a mushroom dish this year.  So, I made it a few days later for my next door neighbour and hairdresser (and kept some for our own consumption, of course).

The pork ribs were delicious and super tender from the braising.  Though anything from 40 - 50 minutes will render it tender, you can cook it for an hour just to be sure (if you're paranoid like me that it won't be tender enough).  It's a perfect dish for the Chinese New Year dinner table as it can be made ahead and reheated at a moment's notice.

I love the mushrooms which absorbed all the flavours in the sauce.  Just look at the disintegrated scallops which helped thicken the sauce as well as give it that lovely umami flavour. ^o^

And then you have the decadent abalones, soft but still with a bit of a bite.  Who doesn't love abalone?  Most of us get to eat it only occasionally, usually during festivities like CNY or during a celebration of some sort. The more, the merrier, when it comes to abalones if you can afford it, I say.

This dish turned out easier to cook than I expected...even easier than my Braised Mushrooms with Abalone & Fatt Choy dish (coz I didn't have to prepare the braising stock with chicken feet separately)....and it tasted better too.  I think this is due to the pork ribs imparting flavour to the braising liquid.  This recipe is another keeper...and looks like it's in time for CNY....next CNY, that is.  But you can try it now for your normal day dinner....even without the abalone, I assure you, it'll taste just as phenomenal. ^.^

#ewew cooks Braised Mixed Mushrooms with Abalone & Dried Oysters

Since my dish of Braised Mushrooms with Abalone & Fatt Choy was quite well-received (judging that it was finished very quickly) when I brought it back to Ipoh for Chinese New Year (CNY) last year, I decided to make a slightly bigger batch this year.

I still had two more cans of abalone to finish, so I might as well.  Only this time I added even more types of mushrooms into the mix in my Braised Mixed Mushrooms with Abalone & Dried Oysters (my contribution towards the Reunion Dinner).

Ingredients:

50 Chinese dried (tea or small) mushrooms
10 dried oysters
2 cans of abalone (the Moon can yielded six small abalones while the Soon Thye Hang one had twelve)
1 can (big) button mushrooms
1 can straw mushrooms (already halved)
1 combo pack (100g each) of fresh shimeji, maitake & bunapi mushrooms
2 packets (100g each) of enoki mushrooms

For the braising liquid:
7 pairs of chicken feet
15 shallots
750ml liquid from the soaked mushrooms + 2 cans of abalone steeping liquid
3 tbsp cooking oil 
4 tbsp oyster sauce 
1 1/2 tbsp light soya sauce 
1/2 tsp dark soya sauce 

Preparation:

Soak the Chinese dried mushrooms until soften and remove the caps.
Roughly chop or slice the shallots.
Cut away the bottom of the fresh mushrooms stalks (about an inch or so) to separate the mushrooms from one another.
Halve the large button mushrooms and abalone (since they were small ones this time).

Method:

First things first....get the braising liquid ready.  Saute the shallots (until soften but not browned) and chicken feet in oil.  Add in the mushroom caps together with the liquid from the soaked mushrooms as well as all the liquid from the canned abalone as I learned from ieatishootipost recently not to throw away the liquid since the water in a can of abalone has lots of umami flavours (+ my mother-in-law also said the same thing). ^_~

Add in all the seasoning and simmer the stock for at least half an hour.  The deliciousness of the stock is critical to the success of this braised mushroom dish.

The rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms and dried oysters go into the braising liquid first for it to soak in the flavours of the broth and for the dried oysters to soften.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.  This year, I substituted the fatt choy with dried oysters as the fatt choy disintegrated when it was heated up (in Ipoh)...and made the sauce very black, so presentation-wise, it wasn't great.  Coz, more often than not, we end up buying fake fatt choy from the markets which disintegrates easily! >:(

As I mentioned earlier, this time I decided to throw in a few more types of fresh mushrooms, namely shimeji, maitake, bunapi and enoki mushrooms (inspired from a stir-fry mushroom dish I once saw Kylie Kwong made).

So, the fresh mushrooms, except enoki (since they cook pretty fast), go in next to allow them to soften.  At this point, you can add in some Shaoxing wine and sesame oil (optional).  Let them braise for a further 3 - 5 minutes.

Then, the rest of the canned mushrooms (button and straw mushrooms) are added in.  These just need to be warmed through since they're canned goods.

Finally, the enoki mushrooms and abalone go into the pot.  The enoki mushrooms soften very fast, so this just needs a minute or two.

This Braised Mixed Mushrooms with Abalone & Dried Oysters was my small contribution for the Reunion Dinner table...a must-have auspicious dish for the lunar new year. ^o^

If you need to cook a dish either to bring to your hometown or when you visit your in-laws, this is the perfect dish to prepare as it keeps and travels very well.  The longer the mushrooms steep in the stock, the better it'll taste and all that needs to be done is to reheat it when you get there.

I have to say that the smaller abalone pieces from the two cans this year were slightly chewier than the ones from last year.  The better ones are still those cans that yield one whole (big) abalone which you can cut into thin slices.

You can add fish maw into the mix for a more decadent dish and serve it alongside some vegetables like broccoli or bok choy.  It's an auspicious dish to cook for CNY as it symbolises all things good (abalone for good fortune, mushrooms for longevity and oysters for good luck).  There are still a few days more to go before Chap Goh Mei, so it's not too late to cook this dish if you want. ^.^

#ewew cooks Braised Mushrooms with Abalone & Fatt Choy

A dish of mushrooms with abalone and "fatt choy" (black moss) is a symbolic dish for Chinese New Year (CNY) that's synonymous with longetivity, good fortune and wealth.  Abalone (as we all know) is a luxurious (and expensive) item, so most families would eat it only during auspicious celebrations like CNY.

Since my sister-in-law gifted me three tins of abalone this year, I decided to cook Braised Mushrooms with Abalone & Fatt Choy as one of the dishes to grace our Lunar New Year Reunion Dinner in Ipoh! ^o^

Ingredients:

50 - 60 Chinese dried mushrooms

2 cans of abalone

2 cans of button mushrooms

Some "fatt choy" (or black moss)

10 shallots (blend till fine)

10 chicken feet

750ml water + 1/2 can of abalone steeping liquid
3 tbsp cooking oil

3 tbsp oyster sauce

3 tbsp Shaoxing wine

1/2 tbsp thick soya sauce
1/2 tbsp light soya sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

Preparation:

Rinse and soak the dried Chinese (or shiitake) mushrooms until well softened.  When buying dried mushrooms, choose a size smaller than what you actually want coz when soaked in water they'll increase in size. Therefore, I like to use the smaller Chinese mushrooms as I find them to be of the right one-bite size after rehydration (the bigger ones may end up too big and have to be halved).  I like to leave the mushrooms whole for better presentation.  Once softened, cut off the mushrooms' caps.

Leave the button mushrooms whole and discard the steeping liquid it came in.  You get a whole abalone + a smaller piece (to make up the total weight, I suppose) from one can of abalone.

Slice the abalone (from 2 cans) into thin slices as it tends to have a slightly chewy texture.  The thinner the slice, the less chewy it'll be when eaten.

Method:

The success factor of this dish hinges on the flavourful stock in which the mushrooms are cooked in.  So, start by sauteeing the shallots in some oil until aromatic (but not caramelised).

I like to use chicken feet to make the stock as they give the stock a thick texture that you don't even need a cornflour slurry to thicken the stock.  You must be wondering why there are some wing tips in the pot. Well, I had 6 wing tips (left from an earlier crispy chicken wings recipe) + I bought a whole chicken (to make curry chicken), so I had 2 chicken feet + 2 wing tips from that and I bought 5 chicken feet.  That meant I used 7 chicken feet + 8 wing tips to cook my stock but you can just use 10 chicken feet.

Pour in 750ml of water (that was used to soak the mushrooms in) or, if that isn't enough, just add plain water. Throw in the mushroom caps as well and add your seasonings of oyster and soya sauce.  Reduce the stock by simmering it for 30 minutes.  Towards the last 5 minutes, you'll see the stock thickening up (this is due to the gelatinous nature of the chicken feet).  

Strain the stock by discarding all the chicken parts and mushroom tips which have done its job already.  The stock will have this lovely thickness and sheen to it.  At this point, I added half a can of the abalone stock to dilute the stock just a bit.

If you think there's too much stock...there won't be.  Have more stock than you think you need as the mushrooms tend to absorb more liquid the longer it sits in the stock.  The Chinese black mushrooms go in next.

Followed by the canned button mushrooms.  Drizzle in 1 tsp of sesame oil + 3 tbsp of Shaoxing wine (or Chinese rice wine) and let it simmer for a further 10 minutes for the flavour to fully develop.  Do a taste test of the broth to ensure the seasoning is perfect :)

Finally, the abalone slices and black moss (that has been soaked in water for a few minutes) goes into the pot. Just stir that in and warm them up...and it's ready!  Do not continue to simmer the abalone slices (as it'll get tougher) or the black moss (as it'll disintegrate).  If this is made ahead of time (and you're particular about the presentation), I suggest you leave out the abalone and fatt choy and warm them up only when you're ready to serve (coz reheating the dish will disintegrate the fatt choy and the sauce will turn very black).

And the must-have auspicious dish at any CNY reunion dinner of Braised Mushrooms with Abalone & Fatt Choy is done.

The mushrooms and abalone take on the flavour of the stock that they're cooked in, so the success of the dish really depends on how awesome your stock is....and this one was pretty awesome (*blowing own trumpet*...haha!).  Well, it better be seeing that the stock was made from scratch and with love...hehe! ;)

I liked that the abalone slices were tender and not chewy as I didn't overboil it but just warmed it up in the stock.  You get this crunchy texture from the button mushrooms while the spongy Chinese black mushrooms soaked up all the lovely flavours of the stock and spurted out the wonderful juices when you bite into them.

So, my contribution of Braised Mushrooms with Abalone & Fatt Choy to grace the Lunar New Year table is done and packed.....ready for my road trip back to Ipoh.

This is one dish you can prepare ahead of time coz the longer the mushrooms steep in the stock, the more robust the flavour.  In fact, it tastes even better the next day (or the day after) if there's any left, that is! ^.^

I think I did pretty alright with the dish judging that it was almost finished on the eve of CNY itself with just some left for lunch the next day.  There's still a few more days to go before the 15th day of CNY, so it's not too late to cook this dish...and I hope it gets you 'two thumbs up' from your family and friends! ^_*

Serves 8 - 10