26 March, 2007

Crispy Stuffed Mushroom Cups

One question always pops in mind when I cook Chinese cuisine. What's the difference between Chinese food cooked in India and Chinese food cooked in China? Is it the food, method, ingredients or the seasoning? Well… We know the answer. Surprisingly everything :) I prefer Chinese food cooked in Indian way. Blame it on the taste bud we have. It is almost impossible for me to like bland, almost spice less food. That’s why even when I cook Chinese food at home I call it my Indo-Chinese cuisine. I make lot of changes to suit our palette.

Crispy Stuffed Mushroom Cups

I was some what shocked when my Chinese colleague told me there is “No deep frying” in Chinese cuisine. Oh yes, you’ll never find a deep fryer in a real Chinese kitchen. Besides the health factor, deep frying saturates the food with oil, strips it of its individuality. What really goes on in Chinese culinary is stir fried, boiled or steamed. Now I am not a person who follows rules;) No deep frying means no Manchurians which we both love. So I guess I better stick to my Indo-Chinese culinary adventure for some more time and enjoy what it has got to offer:)

Crispy Stuffed Mushroom Cups

Here is the recipe for making crispy mushroom cups which is actually stuffed mushrooms with vegetables blended with sweet, spicy and tangy sauces. I got this recipe from Tarla Dalal’s website and made some alterations according to my preference. I made a big mistake of frying them in open kadai which was indeed a big blunder. Because of moist blanched mushrooms and sauces, it was bit difficult to fry as oil started splashing around. The electric fryer, which came to my rescue, is the best one for frying these. So if you don’t have electric fryer, be careful while frying these stuffed mushrooms. You can also make thick coating of corn flour paste which will help to bind these stuffed mushrooms.


Crispy Stuffed Mushroom Cups


Crispy Stuffed Mushrooms
Prep Time: 10-15 mins
Cooking time: 20-30 mins
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients:
1 pack Mushrooms(Choose Medium Mushrooms)
Oil for deep frying
For Stuffing:
2 cloves Garlic, very finely chopped
2 stalks Spring Onion, very finely chopped
½ Green Pepper, very finely chopped
½ Red Pepper, very finely chopped
1 small Carrot, grated
3-4 French Beans, very finely chopped
¼ cup Cabbage, shredded or grated
1 tbsp Soya Sauce
1 tbsp Chilli Sauce
1 tbsp Tomato Sauce/Ketchup
½ tbsp Rice Vinegar
½ tsp Ajinomoto (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
For Batter:
¼ cup Maida
½ cup Corn Flour
1 tsp Chilli Powder
Salt to taste
Bread Crumbs

Crispy Stuffed Mushroom Cups

Method:
Place mushrooms in boiling water and leave them there for 2-3 minutes.
Pat dry and remove their stems. Squeeze out excess water and keep them aside.
In a mean while, heat about 1 tbsp of oil in wok and add chopped garlic.
Sauté it for few seconds and then add spring onions, very finely chopped capsicum/peppers, carrot, beans, cabbage and ajinomoto.
Sauté them for 1 minute and add soya sauce, chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, rice vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.
Mix well and remove from fire to cool.
Stuff this mixture in each mushrooms and pin up two mushrooms with tooth pick so that the filling doesn’t spill out.
Prepare thick batter of corn flour, maida, chilli powder and salt with enough water. Make sure that you get the consistency of thick dosa batter.
Dip each pinned up mushrooms in this batter so that they are coated evenly.
Roll them over bread crumbs and deep fry in electric fryer till they turn golden brown.
Serve immediately with any dipping/sauces of your choice.
These can be served as appetizers or as a side dish with Shezwan Rice/Noodles(Will post the recipe soon) and enjoy.

Crispy Stuffed Mushroom Cups served with Shezwan Noodles



Did You Know?
Macao and Woosung, founded by Chinese immigrant Norman Asing in 1849 is the first recorded Chinese restaurant in the U.S.
When KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) first translated its advertising slogan "finger lickin' good" into Chinese, it came out as "eat your fingers off."
MSG has very little flavor of its own, but it 'improves' or enhances the flavor of other foods it is used with.
Some individuals seem to be sensitive to MSG, and exhibit what is known as 'Chinese Restaurant Syndrome' (because of its use in Asian cooking). The symptoms include headaches, chest pains, facial pressure, burning sensations, and sweating. The FDA continues to list it as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe), but all foods containing MSG must state so on the label.
Although it is true that Ancient Chinese warlords would send messages hidden inside cakes, fortune cookies are not Chinese, they were invented in Los Angeles around 1920.
(Source: www.foodreference.com)

Crispy Stuffed Mushroom Cups

44 comments :

  1. Wow suppi,
    This is my kind of food. Love mushrooms and these little cups look delicious. Your stuffed tomatoes also look delicious. Just came to check you blog before I leaving to school.
    hugs
    Seema

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  2. first you suffocate it with batter, then you throw it in hot oil. just to make sure it's dead, you poke a skewer through its heart. what did it do to you, sia?

    bee, drowning in melodramatic tears....

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  3. Sia, ur dish looks delicious though i dont like mushrooms much :) And am sure, most of the bloggers will agree with u here on our love for indo-chinese :)Started working again?

    Shn

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  4. Hi Supriya,
    Hey these mushrooms looks so crunghy and yummy.Wish could fly to your place hand have a bite.Good going girl....

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  5. hahahahha....Bee's comments kill me..... :)

    Lovely recipe Supriya! I too suffer from the "Syndrome" except mine starts even before we leave the house. I love Chinese, Indo-chinese, heck...all kinds. Looks good...the spring onion in the mushroom's derriere is a nice touch. ;0

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  6. hey that looks A M A Z I N G....
    waw supu!! lovely way to present.
    I just have one doubt. Why do we boil it in water. wont it become sloppy and tender to fry?
    btw I too like chinese the Indian way.

    cheers
    sharmi

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  7. @seema,
    my kind of food too:) it was nice chatting with u after long time. will cath u someother time soon:)

    @bee,
    ha ha ha... i had to do this to enjoy eating;) but i put skewer before suffocating it with batter and then threw it in hot oil;)
    wipe ur tears girl coz i am gonna send some on ur way;)

    @shn,
    u dont like mushrooms? oh girl... i looooooooove mushrooms and hate it when someone calles it fungui;)
    will be starting my job from next week. so last few days of my break:)

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  8. @soumya,
    guess it will be much easier to cook them at home than flying here;) do try it sometime and use elecrtic fryer if possible.

    @trupti,
    she made me look like a murderer:( my god!!! she is killing me with her words;)
    glad u liked it girl:) waiting for "goli soda":)

    @sharmi,
    u need to put mushrooms in boiling water before stuffing as mushrooms are very tender and u will end up breaking them when u try to stuff. when they are blanched in hot water they become little rubbery and its easy to stuff that time. u wont be able to stuff much in raw mushrooms. hope this has cleared ur doubt sweetie:)

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  9. Wow Sups!Wonderful Appetizer....

    Presentation is really tempting us alot dear...Both of us like Mushroom very much,...i'l try this sure...

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  10. good one, Sia.

    I usually make dry veg manchurian or get the frozen spring roll for appetizer, now I've a good alternate. Do you get good frozen snacks where you live?

    As far as indo-chinese food, we desi's sure do adapt it so well.

    take care

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  11. Sia,
    Your stuffed mushrooms look scrumptious.

    As to taste and Indo-Chinese as opposed to Chinese-Chinese: I think most of us prefer our own version of Chinese because the ingredients have been adapted by the Chinese themselves and then by us home cooks to suit our palates. For example, there is a Chinese restaurant here in Barbados that also has a branch in Guynana - same owners, same pool of chefs but the food tastes vastly different. In Guyana, the food is spicer and the abundance and variety of vegetables are reflected in the food. Here in Barbados, the palate is not spicy so the Chinese food here, in terms of flavours is really turned down. The Chinese are cooking to suit the palate of the population.

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  12. Mushrooms, my favorite. Nice pictures there..Love your presentation with spring onion rings on the either side. So cute.

    I just love the Indo-Chinese food. The first time I had Chinese here in US, I was totally disappointed. Later learnt that was real Chinese!

    Your veg balls in garlic sauce and other Indo Chinese recipes are the best!

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  13. @usha,
    he he... i hope u dont fall for looks;) they r really good. crisp from outside and chewy from inside:) we loved it. be careful while deep frying though:)

    @richa,
    we dont get any chinese frozen snacks where we live. but we do get frozen indian snacks like samosas, cutlets, kachories etc. i keep them stored for emergencies:)

    @cynthia,
    first and foremost a warm welcome to spice corner:)
    i totally agree with u. i have experience same thing with indian food too. the one in our state serves milder version to the other in different state which serves very spicy food. it varies from region to region:) the spicy vindaloo curry is not that spicy here in UK:)

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  14. Well..everybody is here already now that I am catching up with you!;D

    Whenever they say Chinese food Indian style,it makes me smile.There is no such thing but we adapt it to make ours indeed.Looks delicious.Get a splatter guard to cover the wok.It's wide lid with mesh ,catches all the oil,works great for me.Fryer is great too.I love the last photo.

    Like you ,I just killed a Eggplant for Meeta's event,guilty of murder!!:D:D:D

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  15. sheesh, I don't know how you manage to stuff something as small as mushrooms with so many different ingredients and still bother to fry them! :) No deep frying in Chinese cooking? That's strange.. where have I been all my life? ;-) Actually, I grew up in Singapore, which is 75% Chinese, and I see lots of deep-fried stuff, although it's probably not at all the same as Chinese food in China!

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  16. @manjula,
    ditto, ditto... i tried veg chop suey and it was so bland. but i did try to enjoy it thinking its authentic chinese:) my taste buds are used to little spicy food. so i alter the recipes for our taste whenever i cook chinese food:)

    @ashakka,
    he he he... we can turn any videsi to desi;)
    thanks for the tip ashakka. i am gonna look out for splatter guard.
    what? bee is gonna eat u up with her comments then;)

    @shilpa,
    he he he... wanted to be little daring, so tried this;)
    i was really shocked when i heard about no frying in authentic chinese culinary!!! and i dont think we can stay away from deep fried stuffs;)

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  17. ohh wow..looks so good. i m a huge fan of mushrooms. I too love Indo-chinese food a lot. Not yet cooked much of chinese though. May be I will start with this.
    Thanks dear

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  18. Wow sia
    the mushrooms look very crunchy,
    thinking about chinese cuisine oh my when i went to shanghai my taste buds were dying for the spicy food as all food are bland for our taste. Though they don't really deep fry the oil for frying the noodles and vege is too much.

    i love the photos too. i must try this but looks it takes a lot of time alva

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  19. Hi Supriya,

    Great blog-beautiful presentation and very innovative :).

    My first comment on your blog.

    Will keep coming back for more.....

    Bee, love your wit :)

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  20. Sup,
    These stuffed mushrooms look so yummy..I wish all these scientists come up with some invention of sending "e-food"..I would have begged you to send me these mushrooms..
    I have mixed feelings about Indian way of cooking Chinese food..I don't like green peas in Fried Rice and I have found them in most of Indian versions of fried rice..Yes, some Chinese dishes r really bland..and u don't know what goes into them..I had noodles made in oyster sauce just the other day..and I am a pure veggie:(
    Swaps

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  21. sia .. it realy looks fabulous! nice resipe .thanks girl.

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  22. Hi Supriya,

    Looks like blogger ate my comment away :(

    But once again-LOVE this recipe.

    Mushrooms are my favorite and this one is soooooooo creative :).

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  23. Hahaha :) I know you don't like people calling mushrooms fun*** :))) But looking at your presentation I think I'll love that suffocated in batter, fried in hot oil with a skewer thru its heart!! Aw, that sounds murderous, but you've converted me to a "I don't mind mushrooms sometimes" person :)

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  24. Sia, long live Indo-Chinese cuisine! Amen!

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  25. @shilpa,
    thank u dear:) glad to know u too love mushrooms:) i find chinese cooking quite easy compared to indian as it takes quite less preparation and cooking time.

    @roopa,
    i know what u talking abt:) i too have had same experience here.
    although this recipe might look like it takes long time, believe me it dont. its very simple and quick. try it to know if i am right or wrong;)

    @musical,
    hey punjabi girl:) a warm welcome to spice corner. thank u for all ur kind words:)

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  26. @swapna,
    ha ha ha... i too wish for the same swapna. i think there wouldn't be any pic left in every blog then;)
    i too am veggie but veggie here means we dont eat meat and eat fish. when i say i dont eat seafood also they look at me surprised;) noodles made in oyster sauce? ha ha... we really donno what goes into it right?:) so home made is the best and safest i guess:)

    @maneka,
    thanks girl. i am glad u liked it:)

    @musical,
    sorry girl...i moderate my comments. so was sleeping away to glory when u left comment:)

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  27. @jyo,
    yayyyyyyyyyyyy.... thats music to my ear:) he he he... atleast my pics made u think twice;) ha ha ha... i am really really glad:)

    @sra,
    join the gang, i mean big gang;)
    i cant stop thinking about devil's dung;)

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  28. Sia, ha ha, who'd have thought dung would be so addictive? Are you able to use asafoetida in your food since you read about devil's dung? I keep thinking about your comments and laughing since yesterday.

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  29. @sra,
    ha ha ha... i do think twice before using it since the day i read abt it in ur blog;) i aked K if he would like to have devil's dung for rasam seasoning and the look on his face was worth watching;) now onwards whenever i am gonna use hing u will always come to my mind;)

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  30. Gorgeous pictures Supriya!

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  31. I never fried mushroom, I usually bake stuffed mushroom. This is really interesting. Thanks for posting wonderful recipe.

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  32. I don't think there is no deep frying in Chinese cooking.
    These mushrooms...ooohh...crispilicious!

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  33. Hi supriya
    nice one.the stuffed mushrooms are looking yummy!!

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  34. Bee's comment made me laugh....I love mushrooms and you have presented them so deliciously well that I want to reach out to it and try them right now

    -Sushma

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  35. Wow Supriya, I have already bookmarked ur babay corn manchurian recipe and now Iam going to bookmark stuffed mushroom cups too. A very creative recipe and a very wonderful presentation too.The picture has come out very well that it is sure to make everyone's mouth to water when they visit ur blog. Good job !!!!

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  36. It is so crispy Supriya. nice photo and presentation asusual. Very tempting. Viji

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  37. hey supriya!!!
    superb mushrooms!!
    never seen mushrooms look so yummy!!!
    gotta try this one!!!!

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  38. @KA,
    thank u for ur compliments:)

    @shivapriya,
    i never tried baking mushrooms:) have u got any recipe for baking them?

    @tigerfish,
    even i have great doubt about no frying in chinese culinary. this info i got from my chinese co-worker who says in authentic chinese cuisine there is no deep frying. i have been doing little research on this piece of info:)

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  39. @swapna,
    thanks lady:)

    @sushma,
    isn't she the funny one here;)
    i am glad u liked this recipe sush. give it a try if u r a mushroom lover:) u can serve them dipped in garlic sauce also. anyway it tastes good.

    @prema,
    oh i love those crunchy baby corn manchurian. this too tastes wonderful. but as i said be careful while frying them:) and thank u so much for ur kind words:)

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  40. @viji,
    thank u lady. i am glad u liked it:)

    @paddukoti,
    u r too generous with ur compliments girl:) i am glad u found them good:)

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  41. I tried them last night........ and they turned out to be just fab!!!!!!! Thanks for this lovely recipe sia!!!!!!!! :)

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  42. @coffee,
    i am glad to know that prof.saab;)

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  43. Lovely looking mushrooms Sia. Perfectly crunchy from outside

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  44. wow this recipe looks so tempting and great. Mushrooms are my all time fav and this sounds simply great
    Awesome
    Thanks for sharing
    preeti

    ReplyDelete

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