Food Goes In Mouth

There’s good news and bad news. The good news: This is one of two things I’ve made that I would actually serve in a restaurant, were I the kind of guy who owned the kind of restaurant that brought you an amouse-bouche to kick off a meal. Plus, the recipe is stupid easy. If I’m only going to post one recipe a month, I might as well make it count.

The bad news? That picture above is fake. I took pictures of the real dish, then deleted them in the midst of purging. But the fake reconstruction above looks almost exactly the same. And you can’t taste my pictures anyway, so damn. On with the recipe.

This post is also my entry into Beet ‘n Squash YOU, a friendly monthly theme battle hosted by the lovelies Melody and Leela. After months of sitting on the sidelines I’m finally participating. It’s Battle Mushroom! Here goes.

What I Used

• Kusshi Oysters
• Shiro Miso Paste
• Junmai Daiginjo Sake
• Oyster Mushrooms
• Chives, finely chopped
• Salt

What I Did

1. Shuck oysters.
2. Heat 1/2 cup of sake in a small saucepan until it reaches a boil.
3. Cut the heat and add 2 teaspoons of miso paste. Stir vigorously until all the clumps are gone.
4. Place the miso sake sauce in the refrigerator until chilled. You’ll have to restir the sauce when you take it out again.
5. Spoon a teaspoon of chilled miso sake sauce over the raw kusshi oyster. Top with a pinch of chives, one raw oyster mushroom, and a pinch of salt.
6. Serve.

It’s that simple; I feel bad calling it a recipe. While it sounded good on paper, I was surprised just how well balanced all the flavors were once assembled.

You can try swapping out almost all of the ingredient varieties until you find a combination you love. Change mushrooms. Try a different miso paste. Shop around the sake section. While Kusshis are a fantastic small variety of oyster, you might not have a supplier in your area, and that’s fine. Use what you’ve got.