Tag: China

Panna Cotta with Yuzu

13 March 2025

When you shop at an Asian supermarket, you will see many products with yuzu: ponzu, yuzu dressing, jelly with yuzu flavour, yuzu marmalade, yuzu soy sauce, yuzu tea and even yuzu skincare. Probably the shop will also sell fresh yuzu juice. And if you’re lucky, they will have the real thing: yuzu!

Yuzu (Citrus Junos) is a citrus fruit and it looks like a small lemon or clementine, with an uneven skin. It is of Chinese origin and it was introduced in Japan during the Nara period (710-794). It’s expensive (we saw them on the market for 5 euro a piece), they have lots of seeds and very little juice. The flavour is tart but gentle, very aromatic and will make you think of mandarin, only different. The peel is as delicious as the juice. The combination of flavors and fragrancy makes it a unique citrus. Not a fruit to eat on its own. Use it to add freshness and aroma to a dish or sauce.

Yuzu juice costs between 30 and 100 euro per liter (because of the small amount of juice per yuzu) and therefore products with yuzu tend to be expensive. If not, check the label and make sure it contains yuzu. Especially ponzu shoyu (made with mirin, rice vinegar, katsuobushi, kombu, yuzu and soy sauce) is often made with lemon.

We also noticed the term ‘yuzu style’ which is a clear indication no yuzu is used. We spotted a bottle of Yuzu Style Dressing. It contains mandarin, lemon, apple, vinegar and lots of other ingredients, but no yuzu.

We bought our yuzu at a farmers’ market and on our way back home we thought about things to make with it. Perhaps our own yuzu kosho (a paste made with chili, yuzu and salt)? Or combine it with miso and cod? Or yuzu syllabub (with cream and sugar)?

Why not panna cotta?

What You Need
  • 500 ml Cream
  • 30 ml Yuzu Juice
  • 10 ml Lemon Juice
  • Yuzu Zest
  • 25 grams of Sugar
  • 3,5 leaves of Gelatine (5,25 grams)
What You Do (for 4)
  1. Slowly bring the cream to the boil.
  2. Keep close to boiling for 15 minutes. Stir when necessary.
  3. Add the juice and some of the zest.
  4. Remove from the heat and while stirring add sugar until totally dissolved.
  5. Follow the instruction of the gelatine and add the leaves.
  6. Stir well until homogeneous.
  7. Cool the liquid somewhat before filling the forms. We used a silicone mold. Nice and easy! The only thing you need to do is to make the mold a bit moist with water.
  8. Let the panna cotta cool and then store in the refrigerator until set.
  9. Don’t forget to seal with cling foil, otherwise your panna cotta will absorb aromas from other food in the refrigerator.
  10. Decorate with yuzu zest.
PS
  • If you can’t find yuzu or find them too expensive, then use 30 ml Lemon Juice and 10 ml Mandarin (or Clementine) Juice.
  • The amount of gelatine you need is a bit tricky. The acidity of the yuzu will thicken the cream and it will reduce the gelling effect of the gelatine. We decided to use the normal quantity.
Panna Cotta with Yuzu ©cadwu
Yuzu ©cadwu

Cordyceps

3 October 2024

Bright orange mushrooms that look like spaetzle? Interesting. We pick one up and look carefully: a long stem but without a cap with spores. Odd. We ask if they are edible, and the obvious answer is “yes”. We buy 100 grams and decide to look for details and recipes in our mushroom cookery books when at home.
Hm. No mention of Cordyceps. We visit the Forager Chef (Alan Bergo) and read about the background of the Cordyceps (or better: Ophiocordyceps). Parasite mushroom, infects insects, controls them, takes over, kills and then sprouts a fruiting body from their head. The fruit we just bought…
Fortunately, the Cordyceps we bought are grown on substrates that are not made of insects, which make them less scary. Normally when we find a new mushroom on the market, we taste it raw, but not today.
We quickly wash our hands and watch this BBC video as suggested by Chef Bergo. Interesting, but we prefer the culinary aspects of mushrooms.

Use

In traditional Chinese medicine dried and powdered cordyceps are used. Today it is considered to be superfood, supposedly boosting your vitality and endurance. Fresh cordyceps are used in Chinese soups and hot pots. Chef Bergo uses them in a dish with linguini. He writes: “The cordyceps weren’t mind blowing, but they definitely weren’t bad”.
We decide to make an Asia-inspired salad, with stir fried cordyceps, obviously. The salad tasted great. It was nutty, mild, fresh and the texture of the mushrooms worked beautifully with the crunchy radishes. 

Wine Pairing

Best to drink a white wine with a touch of oak, perhaps a chardonnay. We tried something different, a wine made with a grape called Bouquet 1359. The wine is produced by French winery Abbotts & Delaunay. The grape was developed by Alain Bouquet. It is somewhat similar to the chardonnay grape but more resistant and easier to use in an ecologic environment. It comes with aromas of brioche and yellow fruit; the taste is fresh, long and slightly nutty. 

What You Need
  • 100 grams Cordyceps
  • 1 Scallion
  • Bok Choy
  • White Radishes or Daikon
  • Walnut Oil
  • Jerez Vinegar
  • Light Soy Sauce (we used Tsuyu)
  • French Mustard
  • Olive Oil
What You Do

Clean the mushrooms if necessary. Cook radishes or daikon for 4 minutes in boiling water. Let cool quickly and slice or quarter. Finely slice one or two bok choy stems, depending on the size. Heat a skillet, add some olive oil and fry the mushrooms. After 1 minute add the sliced bok choy and the pre-cooked radishes. Toss, leave for 1 or 2 minutes and allow to cool. Transfer to the refrigerator. When ready to serve, make a dressing by combining walnut oil, soy sauce, Jerez vinegar and a touch of mustard. The mustard will emulsify the dressing. Taste and adjust. Happy? Then add the dressing to the salad, mix and serve as a side dish or small appetizer.

Inspiration

If you’re into video games you will have recognised cordyceps as inspiration of the action-adventure game The Last of Us, which was the inspiration for the American post-apocalyptic drama television series with the same tittle and produced by HBO.
The 2016 movie The Girl with All the Gifts was also inspired by cordyceps. Two Pokémon species are also based on Ophiocordyceps.

Nasty Details

A few days later we opened Merlin Sheldrake’s impressive book Entangled Life. He explains that the fungus doesn’t turn the insects into zombies but controls it like a puppeteer master. He describes how a specific species of Ophiocordyceps is focused on giant ants. The fungus infects the ant and from that moment on it controls the insect. In the end 40% of the body weight of the ant is mycelium (the network created by the fungus). Through the mycelium the fungus controls the ant. When the Ophiocordyceps is ready to propagate, it steers the ant to a height of approximately 25 cm, ideal for the fungus and its spores. The ant then bites into the main vein of a leaf and locks its jaws. The ant is now in an ideal position for the fungus. This is the moment the fungus kills the ant and the fruit begins to grow.
Very pleased our cordyceps were grown on a substrate of grains!

PS

More mushroom recipes on our mushroom page.

Salad of Cordyceps ©cadwu
Fresh Cordyceps ©cadwu
Cordyceps as a side dish ©cadwu

Mapo Tofu (vegetarian)

1 December 2022

The first time we ordered Mapo Tofu we naively expected it to be a vegetarian dish. It isn’t but we were immediately impressed by the aromas and flavours. The Sichuan pepper gives the dish a floral, citrusy touch. The combination of the silky, soft tofu with the ground pork and the scallions is very rich. It allows for spiciness, but it’s also fine to be modest with the Chili Bean Sauce.

A wonderful, heart-warming dish, but not vegetarian. We replaced the meat with mushrooms (shiitake turned out to be the best choice) and we think it’s a lighter, equally tasty but different, version of Mapo Tofu.

Sichuan pepper is not related to black pepper or chili. It’s actually not spicy. It causes a pleasant numbing sensation on your tongue and lips, for a few minutes only, which is surprisingly nice when eating spicy food. We recommend lightly toasting the peppers before grinding or crushing them.

Drink Pairing

Jasmine tea is an obvious choice. It has a nice aroma and floral taste. The combination with the spices and the Sichuan pepper works really well.

What You Need

  • 250 grams of mixed Mushrooms (with lots of Shiitake)
  • 300 grams of Silken Tofu
  • 200 ml Vegetarian Stock
  • 2 tablespoons light Soy Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Mirin
  • 3 teaspoons Sesame Oil
  • 2 Garlic Cloves
  • 1 small Onion
  • 2 Scallions
  • 3 teaspoons of chopped Fresh Ginger
  • ½ -1 tablespoon Chili Bean Sauce (Douban, Toban-Djan)
  • 1-2 teaspoons Black Bean Sauce (Douchi)
  • 1 teaspoon of Sichuan Pepper
  • Oil
  • Cornstarch

What You Do

Toast the Sichuan peppers lightly in a non-stick pan. Remove the peppers from the pan and let cool. Chop the shallot, the garlic and the fresh ginger. Slice the scallions and separate the white from the green. Clean and slice the mushrooms. Slice the tofu and make cubes (2 cm, 1 inch). Warm the stock. Add oil to the pan and fry the mushrooms. After a few minutes, add soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil. Combine and leave to simmer for a few minutes. Remove from the pan and keep warm in the oven at 50 °C or 120 °F. Grind the Sichuan peppers coarsely.
Add oil to the pan. Fry the white part of the scallions, the onion, the garlic and the ginger. Mix. Add the chili bean sauce and fry. Enjoy the aromas! Add half of the grounded Sichuan pepper. Add the stock, the tofu, the mushrooms and the black bean sauce. Use a spatula to mix. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes or so until the sauce is nicely reduced and the flavours mixed. In the meantime, finely crush the remaining Sichuan pepper. Use cornstarch to create the right consistency. Just before serving sprinkle with Sichuan pepper and the green of the scallions.

Side Dish

Serving Mapo Tofu with rice is a great idea. We enjoyed it with some Bok Choy (Pak Choi) simmered in Oyster Sauce.

What You Need

What You Do

Wash and slice the bok choy. Separate the green from the white. Fry the white of the bok choy in olive oil for a few minutes. Then add Thai oyster Sauce and water. Taste and add some soy sauce. Leave for a few minutes. Adjust by adding Thai oyster sauce or soy sauce. Just before serving add the green of the bok choy and mix.

Mapo Tofu (Vegetarian) ©cadwu
Mapo Tofu (Vegetarian) ©cadwu

Duck Breast with Sichuan Pepper

7 October 2020

Tingling Citrus

Why call something pepper when actually it is not hot and spicy like black pepper or chili? Perhaps because of the shape? The Chinese name is huā jiāo, meaning something like flower pepper. Actually it is a dried berry from western China. Other names are Szechuan Pepper, Chinese Prickly Ash, Mala Pepper et cetera. The quality may vary, depending on the actual species used. The taste has two components: the aroma of citrus and an intriguing tingling effect on the tongue.
The Sichuan cuisine combines it with chili pepper, star anise and ginger.

Wine Pairing

A cup of Jasmine Tea is an excellent choice. You could also go for white wine, for instance a German Riesling or Gewurztraminer. We decided to go for a Pinot Noir from La Cour Des Dames. In general you’re looking for a red wine with aromas of berries, floral notes and delicate wood. The tannins should be soft or well-integrated.

What You Need

  • Duck Breast
  • Sichuan Pepper
  • Light Soy Sauce
  • Normal Soy Sauce
  • Mirin
  • Chicken Stock
  • Corn Starch

What You Do

Start by warming a non-stick frying pan. Add the Sichuan pepper (we suggest one or two teaspoons). Gently roast the peppers until you can smell their lovely aroma. Transfer the berries to a mortar and let cool. Take the duck breast from the refrigerator, clean it if necessary and transfer to the now hot non-stick frying pan. By starting with cold meat, you will get the best result: crispy fat, a golden brown colour and seignant meat. Fry the duck breast for 2 minutes, then reduce the heat, give it 10 more minutes on the fat-side and finish with 2 or 3 minutes on the meat-side.
Wrap the breast in foil, making sure the fat is not covered.
Crush half of the Sichuan peppers. Add stock to the pan, soy sauce, crushed Sichuan pepper and a teaspoon of mirin. Stir and add liquid from the duck. The duck must rest for 10 minutes, so occasionally add liquid and stir the sauce. Taste the sauce and adjust. When ready, make the sauce thicker using corn starch. Coarsely crush the remaining Sichuan pepper.
Slice the meat and serve with the sauce. Sprinkle the remaining Sichuan pepper on top of the meat.

We served the duck breast with a combination of stir fried (Chinese, napa or oxheart) cabbage, spring onion, chili pepper and sesame oil.

Duck Breast with Sichuan Pepper ©cadwu
Duck Breast with Sichuan Pepper ©cadwu