Approximately ten years ago, I was seconded to a vegetarian restaurant under the group. Within about a year, I also learned quite a bit of vegetarian cuisine cooking techniques. That vegetarian restaurant is now a Cantonese restaurant, but back then it was the strictest vegetarian temple in the area. Not to mention the greasy pork bone chicken oil, even eggs were impossible. When guests came to eat, the first thing they did was present today's menu, with all kinds of ingredients and seasonings listed in an orderly manner, just to avoid any objections from guests.

And today I want to introduce you to this mushroom soy sauce, which was also the soul seasoning for vegetarian Yangchun noodles back then.

This mushroom soy sauce is made with a base of fermented soybean sauce for 1 year, with main ingredients being shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, black fungus, matsutake mushrooms, and polypores, a total of 12 kinds. When brewed, the mushroom soy sauce is fresh and delicate, but also has a very distant and ethereal aroma, and if you smell it closely, there is even a Buddhist fragrance. It's very appreciated by customers. But the production process is complex, and we couldn't brew it at home. So I made some modifications, using cheaper mushrooms and ordinary soybean sauce, although the final taste is lacking, but it's pretty good.

----------Mushroom Soy Sauce----------

Required Ingredients:350g soybean sauce, 100g shiitake mushrooms, 100g oyster mushrooms, 100g enoki mushrooms, 100g black fungus, 100g matsutake mushrooms, 100g polypores (e.g., shiitake mushrooms). 2g dried chili peppers, 10g cinnamon, 30g rock sugar, 30g ginger slices, 20g garlic cloves, 150g water.

First step:Clean all kinds of mushrooms, then tear them into small pieces and cut the long stems. Prepare all the materials.

Second step:Put all the mushrooms into a pot, pour in water and bring to a boil.

Third step:At this time, the mushrooms will release a lot of foam, don't worry about it, put in cinnamon, chili peppers, garlic cloves and ginger slices, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes to extract the aroma of spices.

Fourth step:Pour in the soy sauce and rock sugar, bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then reduce the heat to the minimum and simmer for about 2 hours.

Fifth step:When it has reduced to one-quarter of the original amount, use your index finger to knead it, and if it feels slippery, you can turn off the heat. If it is still quite thin, bring it to a boil and cook for 1 minute.

Sixth step:Use a skimmer to separate the mushrooms and soy sauce. Filter the soy sauce one more time with cheesecloth to completely remove the residue.

Seventh step:Pack the mushrooms in cheesecloth and squeeze the juice into the soy sauce.

----------Culinary Tips----------

1. You don't have to stick to my mushroom recipe, you can use whatever mushrooms you like. But you shouldn't use gold thread mushrooms, they're not fragrant or flavorful, it's a waste of money.
2. If you can't buy soybean sauce, you can use ordinary vegetable broth instead.
3. Mushroom soy sauce emphasizes its distant freshness, so you can only use rock sugar and not use red sugar.
4. Don't throw away the squeezed mushroom juice, it's salty, refreshing and delicious when eaten with noodles.
5. The container used for brewing must not have oil, otherwise it will easily oxidize and rot. After the soy sauce cools, pour it into a sealed bottle and store it in the refrigerator. Use a dry, oil-free, and water-free spoon to scoop it out each time.
6. Mushroom soy sauce can be used as the base sauce for vegetarian Yangchun noodles, or it can be used as a dipping sauce, to season cold dishes, or to cook vegetarian dishes.

That's the home-style recipe for mushroom soy sauce. I hope you guys understand. Please forgive me if I'm not good at speaking. We'll meet again tomorrow!

I am Lan, a food blogger, loving food and life, familiar with both domestic and foreign home-style dishes and kitchen secrets. I'm honest and straightforward, just sharing the facts, no flattery. If you like food culture and home-style food, I will update it daily (but I don’t know!), please follow me! You can learn from me and become the focus of the table.”