Crispy Miso Marinated Shiitake Bao Bun

The flavours going on in this bao bun are extraordinary. It has everything that a good bao bun should have - a deeply savoury, umami rich centrepiece, sharp pickles for good contrast, a creamy hot mayo, salty sweet roasted peanuts and fragrant herbs all wrapped up in a soft, fluffy warm bun.....I could live on these!

It may look like a long list of ingredients, but many of these are great storecupboard items for which we've written heaps of other recipes to try.

You can skip the pickled radish step by using any of our great tasting Shedletsky products - Bread & Butter Pickles or Pickled Radish would work well as would the Curtido or the Kimchi. Most of the other steps are pretty quick to do.

Serves 2

For the bao buns
4 Chimei Frozen Gua Bao Buns, gently steamed for 10 minutes from frozen

For the mushrooms
125g fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced in half through the stem
1 heaped tablespoon white miso paste
1 tablespoon of mirin
½ tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons Japanese soy sauce
3 tablespoon plain flour

For the sriracha mayo
1 heaped tablespoon of Kenko mayonaise
As much hot sriracha as you like (just taste it as you add)
A dusting of Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese seven spice)

For the pickled radish
60ml white wine vinger
60ml water
pinch of salt (plus a little extra for sprinkling)
3 teaspoons of caster sugar (plus a little extra for sprinkling)
5-6 radishes, thinly sliced

For the salty sweet peanuts
1 tablespoon of roasted peanuts
2 teaspoons of caster sugar
1 teaspoon of salt

Other garnishes
1 spring onion, finely sliced
Fresh coriander or fresh parsley, roughly chopped

1.  Start by making the pickle - you can make a much larger quantity of this as it will keep for a week or so (the colour from the skin does make everything go a little pink over time). In a small saucepan, mix together the vinegar, water, salt and sugar and heat until the sugar dissolves - leave to cool. Meanwhile slice the radishes and sprinkle them with a little sugar and salt. Leave for 10 minutes (until the vinegar cools down). Wash the radishes under a running tap, then add to the vinegar. Transfer everything to a jam jar or small container. It's best to allow an hour or so for the vinegar to do it's magic.

2. For the shiitake mushrooms, slice them in half (lengthways through the stem), if you have bigger ones, cut into quarters - try to make them roughly the same size. Mix together the miso with all the other marinade ingredients (not the flour). Then mix in the mushrooms and leave to marinade for 20 minutes - up to a couple of hours.

3. For the peanut crumb, mix the peanuts with the salt and sugar and wizz in a mini food processor until finely chopped. Set to one side.

4. For the sriracha mayo, mix all the ingredients together, adding as much sriracha as you like. Finish with a sprinkling of togarashi.

5. Slice up the spring onions and pick and chop the herbs - I used parsley here as we happen to have loads growing right now - coriander is also ace.

6. When you are ready to eat, gently steam the bao buns for 10 minutes. If you only have a stainless steel steamer, line the steamer pan with the outside leaves from a cabbage or lettuce - it stops the bao buns from sticking to the base.

7. While the buns are steaming, spoon some flour onto a large pate and plonk the mushrooms on top. Mix them gently with the flour, giving them a good coating.

8. Heat a large frying pan and add 3-4 tablespoons of rapeseed oil, enough so you can shallow fry the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes on a high heat, turning them over so the flour crisps up on all the sides. Remove them to some kichen towel.

9. It's now time to construct. Remove the buns from the steamer and carefully open them up. DON'T flap them right over or they will break in half. Spread some sriracha mayo over the top and bottom of the bun them add in a few crispy shiitake. Top them with spring onions, peanut crumb, some pickled radish and a few herbs. I dare you not to eat them too quickly!!

You can leave the remaining buns in the steamer with the heat turned off, they will hold really well for 5-10 minutes, taking more buns out as your hunger demands. 

Enjoy! Foodies don't forget to leave a review for this recipe below if you enjoyed making it and tag us in your social posts online! Ben 

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