Chinese Meatball Stuffed Shiitake Mushrooms 香菇鑲肉

It took me a few tries to get that just about right timing for this recipe. Steaming too long then the meaty part will shrink and result in too much juice on the bottom. Steaming too short then the center part of the pork might not get cooked through.

And it varies depending on the kitchenware you use, the firepower difference, etc. Either way, I think my point is, if you're unsure how long it'll take to reach that just about perfectly cooked meatball stuffed shiitake mushrooms, just go for longer steaming time. It's always safer to have over-cooked result, plus it'll still taste delicious.

Chinese meatball stuffed shiitake mushrooms 香菇鑲肉 -

Ingredients?

• 8 big shiitake mushrooms
• 440 grams ground pork
• 8 goji berries
• 2 stalks scallion
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper powder
• Some potato starch

How?

Destem and chop the scallion. Set the ground pork into a big bowl, add 8 tablespoons of chopped scallion, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, and 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper powder. Mix till evenly blended and let it rest for 10 minutes before using.

Try to use big and thick shiitake mushrooms for this recipe, you'll be amazed on how juicy the cap will be once steamed and soaked in some of the flavored pork juice.

Slice-off the stems for the big shiitake mushrooms. Dust the inner part with potato starch, this will better help the pork to stick onto the shiitake mushrooms during steaming.

Scoop out some pork mixture and form into a meatball in your hands, maybe do a few slaps back and forth in between both palms to draw out some trapped air inside. Then gently press down the meatballs onto the inside of the mushroom cap.

Make a gentle dent in the center of the meatball then "mount" one goji berry for each meatball.

Prepare the steaming cookware that you're familiar with. Arrange the stuffed shiitake mushrooms tightly together so it won't flip or tilt during the steaming process. Once all checked, steam for 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the stuffed mushroom and how well-cooked you would like it to be.

Once ready, remove from the steamer and transfer the stuffed mushrooms to serving plate if needed.

You can see from the images here, this batch of meatball stuffed shiitake mushrooms was cooked just about right without much overflowing juice on the bottom. However, if you do steam it longer and got some juice instead, like around 30 minutes, simply remove the stuffed mushrooms to the actual serving plate, then we'll make a good use of the juice.

Pour all the juice to a small pot and turn to medium heat. Aim for a bit bubbling in order to reduce the juice a bit. Towards the end, switch to lowest heat. Have some potato starch and water mixture ready, add to the reduced juice to thicken the consistency just a wee bit. Pour that sauce on top of the meatballs. A few more steps than usual but it'll make the final result even more tasty.

Extended reading:

• Fiery stuffed bell peppers in Asian sauce 超辣青椒鑲肉

Braised Tofu in Vegetable Stock and Sansho Powder

The most common braised tofu dish I would say is soy sauce based. Like darker brown color with heavier aromatics from the seared garlics, scallion, and usually red chilies. Today I'm cooking up a different version, slightly leaning towards Japanese style. Somewhat more elegant with gentle flavors from the vegetable stock and aroma from the distinct sansho powder (山椒).

Braised tofu in Vegetable stock and sansho powder - 

Ingredients?

• 1 box/400 grams semi-firm tofu
• 1 box/220 grams ground pork
• 2 eggs
• 300ml vegetable stock
• 1 stalk scallion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons Japanese tsuyu
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sake or rice cooking wine 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper powder
• Some olive oil
• Some potato starch and water mixture
• Some sansho powder

How?

Destem and chop the scallion, separate the white and green parts. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Drain out the liquid from the tofu box. Hand-tear the tofu into irregular medium size chunks.

Have a pan ready and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Just a wee bit of oil will do. Switch to medium heat and wait till the surface gets hot. Add in torn tofu and slowly sear till slightly golden. Carefully flip to the other side and sear till colored too.

The searing part will take a while and we don't want to rush this process. However, it should take no longer than 10 minutes, so be more patience there. Once all nice and colored, scoop out for later use.

Meanwhile transfer the ground pork to a bowl and add in chopped scallion whites and chopped garlic. Also add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of sake or rice cooking wine. Mix till evenly blended. It's like a quick marinate, remember to let the pork mixture sit under room temperature for about 10 minutes before cooking.

So back to the pan we used earlier for the tofu, check and see if more oil is needed once the tofu has been removed. Pour in 1 more tablespoon of oil max. Add in ground pork mixture and stir-fry till about 70% cooked-through.

Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper powder, 2 tablespoons of Japanese tsuyu, and 300ml of vegetable stock. It should be a bit watery here, probably more liquid than you would expect normally in a braised tofu recipe.

Transfer seared tofu back and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat to keep everything at a medium boiling stage for couple more minutes.

Now change to low heat. Add 1/4 teaspoon of sansho powder and mix. Prepare some potato starch and water mixture in a small bowl. Pour that mixture to the pan while giving the whole thing a gentle push or swirls to prevent lumping. 

Turn-off the heat and wait a short moment. While waiting, break two eggs in a bowl and beat them. Pour the beaten egg to the pan and use a spatula to push the mixture outward gently a few times. 

Do not over-mix it, otherwise the beaten egg can appear cloudy on top. But even like that, it won't really affect the final taste by much though, so don't get too stressed if the look wasn't up to expectation. 

Transfer the tofu dish to a final serving plate or bowl. Sprinkle some more sansho powder on top and garnish with some of the chopped scallion greens.

It has to be sansho powder and cannot be substitute with black or white pepper powder. It's the unique lemony and bright citrusy aroma that gives this tofu recipe a unique edge. 

However, I suppose Taiwanese "magao" pepper will also do the trick. Magao pepper is also lemony and citrusy, but slight stronger than the sansho pepper, so use less if swapping the sansho to magao pepper.  

Other tofu recipes:

• Egg dipped tofu in savory tomato sauce
• Steamed tofu and egg with ground pork toppings 肉末豆腐蒸蛋
• Tomato egg and tofu soup 番茄雞蛋豆腐湯