Chef's Recipes

Pickled black fungus

Recipe for pickled black fungus by Victor Liong from Lee Ho Fook in Melbourne.

By Victor Liong
  • 15 mins preparation
  • 2 mins cooking plus marinating
  • Serves 4 - 6
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Pickled black fungus
"Black fungus has a unique texture and also carries the flavour of a dressing really well," says Victor Liong. "I liked the idea of a textural, clean appetiser - it's my homage to old-school Chinese ingredients, but with a newer approach, serving it as a refreshing pickle." Start this recipe a day ahead to marinate the fungus.

Ingredients

  • 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
  • 200 gm black fungus, hard stems trimmed with scissors
  • 30 ml Shaoxing wine
  • 20 gm ginger, cut into julienne
  • To serve: coriander leaves
Black vinegar dressing
  • 100 ml soy sauce
  • 80 ml (1/3 cup) sugar syrup (see note)
  • 60 ml (¼ cup) Chinkiang vinegar
  • 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp chilli oil (see note)
  • 10 gm ginger, finely grated on a microplane
  • 1 small garlic clove, finely grated on a microplane

Method

Main
  • 1
    Heat oil in a wok over high heat, add fungus and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add Shaoxing wine and stir-fry until liquid reduces (1 minute). Place in a colander to drain and cool to room temperature.
  • 2
    For dressing, whisk ingredients and 100ml water in a non-reactive container. Add fungus and ginger, and refrigerate overnight to marinate.
  • 3
    Place pickled black fungus in a serving bowl, drizzle with a little dressing, top with coriander and serve.

Notes

Note For sugar syrup, combine equal parts caster sugar and water, bring to the boil, then cool. Chilli oil is available from Asian supermarkets; Victor Liong prefers the Koon Yick Wah Kee brand.
Drink Suggestion: A fresh crisp white wine, such as a 2011 Wanted Man White Label Marsanne Viognier. Or a lager-style beer, such as Tsingtao. Drink suggestion by Masa Nishimoto

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  • undefined: Victor Liong