From the forest to the table: Taste of Yunnan part 2

I love an edible forest garden: it’s a dream of mine. The idea of a three-dimensional space in nature where you can reach for food from above you to below the ground is beautiful to me. Yunnan is such a place, a giant edible forest garden, that stretches for thousands of kilometres along the Tibetan Plateau. A naturally formed, diversified ecosystem has provided all living beings a chance to live in harmony with nature here. As I am told, people here give thanks to nature often in the form of rituals and ceremonies.

Yunnan is a culturally and culinarily textured place, where people of different origins, customs, and religions find themselves living off the same land for centuries. It is one of the reasons why Yunnan has such a large variety of food. Take a walk in the old town of Dali or Lijiang, and you’ll find yourself in a labyrinth of food stalls and eateries offering all sorts of delicacies and intriguing foods that you wish you could taste. Rose cakes, filled with seasonal roses pickled in sugar; Rushan cheese, cow’s milk curds thinly stretched over bamboo and laid out in the sun, slightly chargrilled and served with a spoonful of the local forest honey; roast fish served with lemon grass; “cross the bridge” rice noodle soup with a heartwarming love story and discovery about the use of fat to preserve the heat of brothy noodles during long distance travel; aged cured ham, I could go on... I still discover something new every time I come to visit family. In this season, I’ve come to meet Yunnan as the “wild mushroom kingdom”.

Yunnan is wealthy in these delicacies from the mountains. Home to nearly 300 types of edible fungi, that adds up to 90% of mushrooms known to grow in China, and almost two thirds in the world. There are typically 30 types that are commonly used in cooking, some of which are more well known in the world, such as porcini, morel, matsutake, bamboo mushrooms and even truffles. Now, technically truffle isn’t a mushroom, more a fungus that’s grown underground, because mushrooms are normally defined as growing above ground. All mushrooms are fungi, but not all fungi are mushrooms. But to a mountain loving people, all that is given by nature is to be treated with gratitude. And this deep appreciation is reflected in the ways chefs in these parts preserve the prime flavours of these foraged ingredients through preparation methods and techniques. After all, cooking is a way to “freeze-in-time” the best of an ingredient — it can be seen as a form of respect for nature itself.

The first rain of spring signifies the beginning of mushroom season. Misty, high altitude and low temperature are prerequisite to finding wild and rare ones like the Matsustake. The land is generous if all the elements align. I’m told that it’s impossible to grow matsutake mushroom artificially, as it does not accept human interference — not a tiny bit of pollution is allowed. Yunnan people are natural foragers, never lost in the forest and always protecting it. Ceremonies are held at the beginning of a season; gratitude is extended to the “mushroom god”. People wear protective gear made with linen that comes from the plant fibre of “fire grass”, a plant-based clothing material, woven with ancestor’s knowledge, wisdom and bearing. Ensuring that when you enter the mountain before dawn, you’ll always find your way. This also reminds me of a time when my grandmother said, “keep walking, the road will get brighter as you go”. Food for thought.

While walking in the local food market, I discovered a popular snack/condiment/preserve method of wild mushrooms. It’s a way to have access to them during the non-seasons. So, I gave it a try at home. It’s such a great way to add that umami to your noodle or rice bowl, on a pizza or in a burger. Pre-spice your mushrooms with five spice, Sichuan peppercorn spice and white sesame seed; then lightly batter; lastly fry in vegetable oil till crispy. Season with salt and preserve it in the same oil. I separated a portion from the oil to keep as a light, chewy and crispy, biltong-like snack. It’s next-level delicious! 

Ingredients:

250g mushrooms. Due to availability, I suggest using oyster or shimeji mushrooms. You need to pull them into thin strips if using oyster mushrooms. I learnt that they are sensitive to metal and using a knife may affect the taste. People here also create sharp knife-like objects to cut the mushrooms.

• 1 heaped TBS salt
• 1 TBS Soy sauce
• 1 heaped TBS five spice
• 1 egg
• 1 TBS white sesame seeds
• Vegetable oil for frying

Method:

1. Mix half of the salt with soy sauce and all the five spice together. Add mushrooms, mix together and set aside for 20 minutes.
2. Add one egg and white sesame seed to flour together, batter the mushrooms, dust off and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok, fry the mushrooms on medium heat — slowly does it, but make sure you use a fork or chopstick to separate the mushrooms while frying to ensure evenness. Fry tll golden brown.
4. Put mushrooms in a jar and pour in the oil, let it cool and store in the fridge for up to three weeks, if it can last that long.

PS: I highly recommend that you make a little extra to keep without oil but as a crispy snack. Enjoy!