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Registered: 02/16/04
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Magic medicinal mushrooms * 1
    #22004472 - 07/27/15 01:12 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Chef Lance Seeto
Sunday, July 26, 2015



The Chinese have long believed it is fresh food that provides the best medicine for long life with less disease, and Chef Seeto discovers one man's vision to help Fijians appreciate one of the most powerful medicine foods in the world — mushrooms.

Mushrooms, or fungi, are rarely eaten in Fijian cuisine because up until recently, no one had worked out how to grow them in our tropical climate successfully.

But all that changed in 2014, when Chinese company Juncao Mushroom Technology invested $14 million for the cultivation of edible Asian mushrooms in Fiji.

With the support of Fiji's Ministry of Agriculture, the Legalega Research Station was established and today grows and sells varieties of cultivated Asian mushrooms to our resorts and general public. For the very first time, locals are experiencing the taste of fresh mushrooms at a fraction of the cost of imported varieties.

A new mushroom industry has been born that not only provides farmers with a new source of revenue, but also provides the Fijian diet with another medicine food to help combat disease.

WHY ARE THEY SO HEALTHY?

Mushrooms contain some of the most powerful natural medicines on the planet. About 100 species are being studied for their health-promoting benefits, and about a half dozen really stand out for their ability to deliver a tremendous boost to your immune system.

Mushrooms, though classified as vegetables in the food world, are not technically plants. They belong to the fungi kingdom and provide several important nutrients that make them one of the key functional foods in a balanced diet. Functional foods are foods that have a potentially positive effect on health beyond basic nutrition.

In other words, they not only taste great, but they promote optimal health and help reduce the risk of disease as they contain vitamin D and minerals like selenium that strengthens immunity.

ONE MAN'S DREAM TO FEED THE WORLD

"It is better to teach a man how to fish, than to give a man a fish," said Professor Lin Zhanxi, quoting a famous Chinese proverb. Dr Lin is the inventor of the technology that is helping poorer rural regions in 17 developing countries including PNG, South Africa and Fiji, to help feed their people with a healthy and nutritious food that is easy to grow.

What is incredible about this humanitarian's story is his motivation to share this technology outside of China. At the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) in China, Professor Lin has dedicated his life towards developing technologies that are sustainable and very affordable to provide food security and reducing poverty alleviation.

Professor Lin and his team from 1980s have been developing ways to utilise the special Chinese grass needed to grow the mushrooms, in various ways that could uplift human life and at the same time conserve our resources.

In 1971, Dr Lin was the first person to suggest the idea of cultivating edible fungi in chopped-up wild grass instead of using woodchips, which would have destroyed valuable timber.

In a 2012 interview with the China Daily newspaper, the professor recalled "I saw people living on the barren red-soil lands starving, but growing mushrooms using grass is easy to learn and can bring quick returns, enabling local farmers to shake off poverty".

By the end of 1986, Dr Lin saw the first Juncao mushroom sprout from a bottle filled with a chopped wild fern in his laboratory.

Mushrooms are vegetarian meat

So why do chefs love mushrooms? They are beautiful to the eye, and easily adapt to a wide range of cuisines, but, most important, mushrooms behave in the kitchen much the same way that meats do.

They change their character in response to different cooking techniques and they express different qualities depending on the ingredients with which they are paired.

There is sound science behind these effects. Mushrooms are not vegetables. They are fungi and their biochemical structure has more in common with animals in some ways than with vegetables.

Mushrooms have a broad range of amino acids, as animal proteins do, and this provides them with savoury flavour. They are high in glutamic acid, an amino acid that is naturally occurring in glutamates and acts as a flavour enhancer. Mushrooms are also rich in nucleotides, compounds that are synergistic with glutamates.

Together, these characteristics make up umami, the savoury flavour component that is now widely accepted as the fifth flavour along with salt, bitter, sweet, and acid.

These attributes make mushrooms perfect pairing partners in a wide variety of dishes and if you're a vegetarian or vegan, their "meaty" texture make them an excellent substitute and they taste better than tofu!

Fungi are versatile in any cooking

As an example of their versatility, a fairly mild mushroom like the king oyster has a mildly sweet flavour when lightly sautéed in butter with lemon and thyme, pairs well with chicken and fish.

The same mushroom tossed with olive oil, garlic and rosemary, then grilled tavu-style over charcoal has a deeply satisfying, hearty character that is akin to grilled beef with a glass of red wine.

In Indian cooking they are delicious just quickly sautéed in ghee, garlic and spices, or added at the last minute to an aromatic vegetable curry.

I'm dying to try a recipe for mushroom roti with the Juncao mushrooms by panfrying the mushrooms first with ghee, onion and spices, then kneading the mixture into a roti dough!

For any of the Asian cuisines, mushrooms like shiitake, wood ear and oyster have been used for centuries and are a perfect companion with any Asian sauce and a hot wok.

In Fijian cuisine I can't wait to try a mushroom kokoda or maybe a version of vakasakera (chopped green leafs, coconut, mushrooms poached in coconut milk).

How much and where to buy?

Asian mushroom packs are available directly from the Ministry of Agriculture's Legelega Research Station in Nadi.

There were five varieties being trialled and included the brown oyster mushroom, grey oyster mushroom, white oyster mushroom, Jew's ear/ log's ear and lingzhi, and subject to harvesting times.

Compared with other local vegetables they are more expensive, but remember these mushrooms are not just vegetables; but one of the most powerful natural medicine foods to add to your weekly diet.

Prices start at $5.00 for the 250gm pack to $20 for one kilogram if you buy them direct from the station and slightly more if they are to be shipped to Suva. I'm one big fan of mushrooms and must congratulate the Fiji and Chinese governments on seeing this project to fruition in a very short time.

It not only gives the chefs yet another local ingredient to add to our menus and reduce import bills on button mushrooms; it has given Fijians a tasty weapon in the fight against non-communicable diseases.

* Lance Seeto is the multi-award winning executive chef based on Mana Island, and is Fiji Airways' Culinary Ambassador and host of Fiji TV's Taste of Paradise. Season 4 premieres August 30 on Fiji One TV.

Recipes

Garlic Sesame Soba Noodles

with seared oyster mushrooms

450 grams Japanese soba noodles (from Chinese shops)

6 tablespoons olive oil

250 grams fresh oyster mushrooms

6 cloves garlic, minced

4 tablespoons honey

6 tablespoons Japanese rice vinegar

6 tablespoons light soy sauce or Kikkoman

2 tablespoons Chinese sesame oil

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

6 green onions, sliced

1 teaspoon black sesame seeds

sea salt

1. Cook soba noodles according to the package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.

2. Meanwhile, place a saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute mushrooms with two tablespoons olive oil and season with salt.

3. Once mushrooms are tender and browned, stir in garlic, honey, remaining oil, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until mixture is thoroughly combined.

4. Pour sauce over soba noodles, and toss to coat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve hot or cold the next day for lunch!

Shiitake enoki & oyster mushrooms with greens & cauliflower rice

1 cup shiitake mushrooms

1 cup enoki mushrooms

5 large oyster mushrooms

2 cloves garlic

1 bunch moca (or any green leafy vegetables)

1 tablespoon light soy or Kikkoman

1 tablespoon Chinese sesame oil

1 small onion, finely sliced

pepper to season

2 tablespoon ghee or olive oil to cook

1/2 cauliflower head

1. For cauliflower rice - remove cauliflower 'flowers' and blend in a blender until it resembles rice (don't overblend!) Put in pan with 1 tablespoon ghee/oil and cook through, season with salt and pepper.

2. In a separate pan, fry garlic and onions until translucent. Add mushrooms and greens to pan. Add soy and sesame oil, cook for another 1-2 mins. Season with pepper.

3. Remove cauliflower rice and stir fry from pan. You're ready to serve !

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=315332


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