Wild Mushrooms that I used to meet in my childhood.
Hi, food lovers! I can finally breathe easy in my own kitchen. I have arrived at my house after a two-week trip to the city where my brother lives. Oh, I miss my kitchen so much! It is happiness when I can think about what I want to eat and my hands can make it happen.
The vegetables in the fridge are empty. So I went to the morning market to buy my kitchen needs. Then a random thing happened. Such a lucky moment.
It started with wild mushrooms that I bought from the market. I was very happy when I saw a seller offering a plastic bag filled with wild mushrooms. He offered me a very cheap price of IDR 10,000 or USD 0.7. What a cheap price in my opinion.
I feel very lucky because this is a kind of mushroom from my childhood that I haven't seen for a long time. I only met when I was little when I helped my late mom look for wild vegetables in the fields. So you could say this is like nostalgia for me too.
Without thinking much, I immediately bought the wild mushrooms even though they weren't in very good condition because the wild mushrooms were harvested too late. Mushrooms were over bloomed and some of the mushrooms had separated from their stems. But that doesn't matter at all. They still look good and are worth cooking.
Special Taste Similar To Chicken Meat
"Western mushroom" is what we call this type of wild mushroom. I do not know the exact origin of the mention of this mushroom. Most importantly, these wild mushrooms are very special to me. Apart from being very difficult to find nowadays due to reduced natural vegetation, this is also due to the taste of these wild mushrooms. Even though it is only served simply, these wild mushrooms taste similar to the taste of chicken meat.
I can't even get over how chewy the texture and taste are similar to the chicken meat of these wild mushrooms. In particular, the stems of these wild mushrooms are indeed chewy in texture, while the tops of these wild mushrooms are slightly softer than the stems.
For serving these wild mushrooms, just enough stir-fry with onion and pepper or chili. Then serve with our favorite carbs or protein. This time I chose to serve wild mushrooms with air fryer pumpkin.
Air Fryer Pumpkin
I forgot to buy potatoes as a source of carbohydrates. Meanwhile, I'm lazy to eat rice because indeed I'm trying to eat less rice. Well, I have a stock of pumpkins that I just bought at the market along with those wild mushrooms. AHA! I got an idea! It's a great idea to serve pumpkin by grilling it. But this time I didn't use the oven. This time I used an air fryer which I haven't used for a long time.
Before preparing the pumpkin first, I prepared an air fryer that I haven't used for a long time. I cleaned the air fryer first. Love it, rub it gently so it can work fine later! Then I heated the air fryer for about 10 minutes for maximum pumpkin results.
After preheating the air fryer, I prepared the pumpkin. I cut the pumpkin into portions that I would only eat with my partner. I removed the pumpkin seeds and then washed the pumpkin clean without peeling the pumpkin.
After the pumpkin is washed, be sure to dry the pumpkin using a paper towel. After the pumpkin is completely dry, the next step is to spray cooking oil or spread it evenly on the surface of the pumpkin. You can also add pepper or salt if you wish. But for my version, I just add cooking oil evenly over the entire surface of the pumpkin.
Bake the squash in the air fryer for about 25 to 30 minutes. You can also use the oven in general.
I really like the results of this air fryer pumpkin. It looks very soft inside and the outer surface is crispy. For the results that I show in my photo, I have removed the crispy outer part first for a better food presentation. So I left only the soft inside.
Stir-Fried Wild Mushrooms
I cooked the wild mushrooms while waiting for the baked pumpkin to cook. So quite a time saver. For this dish, I only used the top part of the mushrooms. Meanwhile, for the stem of the mushrooms, I set aside for other types of food later. That's because the texture of the top of the mushrooms with the stem is very different. I'm not in their gin levels differ in one serving. So this time I only use the top of the mushrooms.
To clean these wild mushrooms, I slowly work like removing the outer skin of them. Accuracy is needed so that the delicious mushroom meat is not wasted along with the outer shell.
Later, before cooking, wash the wild mushrooms and remove the outer skin. Make sure not to wash the wild mushrooms too long as this will spoil their texture as they become so soggy.
For seasoning, I only use 5 shallots and 3 cloves of garlic. Because I like spicy, so I added red chili. You can use paprika or even don't use spicy ingredients at all.
After finishing preparing the seasoning ingredients and also the mushrooms, heat the cooking oil to sauté them. Sauté the onions then proceed with adding the chili pieces if you use chilies or paprika. Sauté them until fragrant.
Don't forget to add salt or other additional seasonings such as additional mushroom broth or vegan broth. For this recipe, I added 2 teaspoons of salt.
Adding wild mushrooms and toss them gently so they don't get crushed. Here we don't need to add water because the type of wild mushrooms that I cooked is already rich in a lot of water content.
As you can see in the photo I took, it's quite a lot even though I didn't add any more water. So the water comes from the mushrooms.
Adding slices of baby tomatoes if you like fresh-sour taste sensation. You can add spring onion or sprouts to complete this dish.
Correct the taste of this dish before serving. After you are sure that the taste really fits your tongue and suits your taste, lift this dish. Serve the wild mushroom dish with the other side dishes of your choice. Here I serve it with pumpkin and sprinkle them with sesame seeds.
It tastes really delicious. What a beautiful nostalgia I have. Wild mushrooms with a taste that really hasn't changed from when I first discovered wild mushrooms with my late mother. Thank you universe for allowing me to enjoy these delicious wild mushrooms again.
Well, have you ever found a type of mushroom similar to the one I'm cooking this time? I hope you have a good chance to find delicious types of edible wild mushrooms for you and your family to eat. Have a great day!
Thank you for reading my blog and reblog if you want my blog this time worthy of reading by others.
Best Regards,
Anggrek Lestari
Anggrek Lestari is an Indonesian fiction writer who has published two major books. Now She is a full-time content creator. She has a goal to share life, poem, and food content that makes others happy and can get inspiration.
Contact Person: authoranggreklestari@gmail.com
Discord: anggreklestari#3009