Mushroom Tempura

Back in December, my sister and I took an old family friend to see The Nutcracker ballet. It was an amazing, lovely, moving performance and I enjoyed every second of it. I'd never been to the ballet before so I wasn't sure what to expect. The ballerinas had sick bodies but damn, the ballerinos were hot as hell. I don't know that I'm a fan of ballet in general; I think I might just be a fan of this show in particular.

Anyway, prior to the show, we ate at a restaurant right next to the theater. The three of us shared a bunch of dishes. The appetizer we chose was fritto misto, which was just a mix of vegetables that were tempura battered and fried with a light truffle flavor. There was squash and cauliflower but the unanimous favorite was the mushroom. It was such a hit that I had a craving for them for weeks and decided I just had to make my own at home.

Ingredients:
8 oz. oyster mushrooms
½ cup flour
½ cup potato starch
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup ice water
+ oil for frying
+ truffle oil
+ truffle salt

This is a super quick and easy recipe. It isn't much different from the sweet potato tempura that I shared a few weeks ago. The main difference is that I upped the amount of potato starch so that the batter would be a bit lighter and crisper.

Start by tearing up the mushrooms into reasonably-sized pieces.

To make the batter, just stir together the flour, potato starch, and salt and then whisk in the cold water.

Dredge the mushrooms in the batter, shake off the excess, and then drop into 350F oil and fry for a few minutes or until the batter looks crisp and lightly golden.

Drain the mushrooms onto paper towels and then season with a few drops of truffle oil and sprinkle with truffle salt. Once the paper towels soak up the excess fry oil, place the mushrooms onto a wire rack so they don't get soggy.

Serve these immediately while they're still nice and hot. We had these as an appetizer before a simple weeknight spaghetti dinner with a big, colorful salad. The mushrooms are tender with a crisp exterior; they just have a wonderful texture. They feel decadent and indulgent but it's such an easy thing to throw together.

Here's the recipe page: