Squirrel?s Sweet & Sour Mushrooms

Although Squirrel would make an excellent Nutella Spokesperson, she would make an equally stellar Mushroom Ambassador.  I have to be careful when I take her grocery shopping because if I go past the mushrooms and I don’t put any in our basket, she will insist that I get some.  You see, Squirrel has a thing for mushrooms—uncooked, cooked, it doesn’t matter, she will inhale them all.

This dish was inspired by a Japanese dish called Nameko no Mizore Ae (Nameko Mushrooms in “Sleet” Sauce).  In this dish, Japanese nameko mushrooms are briefly blanched and then marinated in a bit of soy sauce for a few minutes.  Then a sauce is made by adding amazu (a Japanese sweet and sour sauce) to grated daikon radish until it looks like semi-melted snow (thus the name “sleet” sauce).  The mushrooms are then tossed in the sauce and served alone or with salt-grilled fish.  I bought a container of crimini mushrooms a few days ago, due to the insistent urgings of Squirrel, and decided to make a dish based on Nameko no Mizore Ae.  I made some amazu, then while it was cooling, I cleaned and sliced the crimini mushrooms,

sauteed them in a bit of sesame oil and soy sauce,

and then tossed the finished mushrooms with a bit of the amazu.

The recipe I always use for amazu makes about 1/2 cup of sauce, but you only need 1 tablespoon of amazu for these mushrooms.  The great thing about amazu is that it will keep fresh for at least 4 weeks if you store it in a covered glass/ceramic container in the refrigerator.  Amazu is used in many Japanese sunomono (”vinegared things”) dishes.

The mushrooms were delicious.  Squirrel ate half of them by herself on some plain white rice.  They would also be good with salt-grilled fish, roasted chicken, or as a topping for tofu steak.

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