Mushroom forager and gingko nuts forager

Posted on Oct 1, 2011 in Hiroko's Blog

Last week I received an e-mail notice from mushroom forager, Linda and Michael, of HoneyhollowFarm (upstate NY) that they are coming to their regular spot on Wednesday at Union Square Farmer’s Market with Matsutake mushrooms. I was cooking for a dinner for 7 on that evening, so in the morning of 28th I rushed to their stand and purchased Matsutake mushroom and the others called sweet tooth. On that day Buzz was also in the mood of being a forager in the city (for the first time in our 12 years of living here). Because of repeated rain Buzz began spotting lots of dropped gingko nuts on the pedestrian street in our neighborhood. Gingko fruits drops when the fruit matures, becoming beige yellow and soft. The flesh is awfully stinky when it breaks. So no one is brave enough to pick smashed gingko fruits on the ground. Buzz had no competitor, so he came back to home with 200 gingko fruits in a plastic bag. When I opened it enormous stinky smell attacked my nose. The flesh of the fruits are all mashed. Because he brought them to home Buzz knew that cleaning the fruits and getting out of the inside seed is his job. I advised him to wear heavy kitchen gloves. When people has sensitive skin touching the mashed flesh causes some irritation. After cleaning Buzz spread them on the cookie sheet and he left it on top of the stove. Next day they are all properly dried and turned to the ones with firm shells. It will take for us few weeks to enjoy these delicacies no matter how delicious they are, since it is said that eating too much of them over long term is poisonous.

Next day out of my delight I have found two very necessary ingredients for dobinmushi dish in my kitchen, so I prepared it for our dinner. Dobinmushi is a dish created to enjoy this highly acclaimed, the most fragrant autumn mushroom, in which sliced Matsutake, gingko nut, shrimp, anago eel and mitsuba greens are cooked in dashi stock for 15 minutes or so. Matsutake mushroom infused stock is DELICIOUS. This dish is so special that it is cooked and served in individual small pot, which resemble a tea pot. My dobinmushi pot is made of copper which I acquire in Kyoto many years ago.

Dobinmushi recipe

One serving

1 1/2 ounces matsutake mushroom
1/2 cup dashi stock
1/3 teaspoon shoyu (soy sauce)
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon sake (rice wine)
1 medium shrimp, rinsed in salt water, peeled, wiped dry
2 husk removed and cooked gingko nuts
4 to 5 mitsuba greens or green part of scallions
Yuzu citrus fruit or lime

Rinse mushroom in salt water, wipe dry with paper towel and cut it into thin slices. In a saucepan bring dashi to a gentle simmer and add the soy sauce, salt and sake. Add the matsutake mushroom, shrimp, gingko nuts and mitsuba greens to an individual small pot. Pour in the flavored dashi stock into the pot, cover with a fitting lid and put it over medium heat. On gentle simmering, turn the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minute. How to enjoy the dobinmushi: Open the lid of the pot and squeeze little yuzu juice into it; Close the pot with the lid and pour the infused stock into a small cup (small sake cup like one) – about 2 tablespoons – and enjoy the matsutake infused soup; Open the lid of the pot again and this time pick up one or two slices of matsutake mushroom and enjoy the flavor and texture; Cover the pot with the lid again and pour additional soup into the small cup and enjoy; Open the lid and pick up the shrimp and enjoy….you just repeat it until all is gone in the small pot.

I will post in my next blog several eays to enjoy Matsutake mushroom and hot wo salt roast gingko nuts.