Monday, September 28, 2009

Spaghettini with 2 kinds of mushrooms and shiso

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We have all sorts of mushrooms in Japan, especially this time of year. There's shitake, shimeji, maitake, nameko, engiri, enokitake, matsutake*, just to name a few, all of which can ben easily found at most supermarkets around Japan.

*mastutake are considered the King of all mushrooms,  found only in the fall, in certain areas of Japan. They range in price but are generally quite pricey.. I wouldn't be surprised to see one for $100. Yes, that's $100 for one mushroom.

I made a quick and easy to make pasta dish using two kinds of mushrooms, shimeji and maitake, and also some shiso (aoba/perilla/Japanese basil), an herb that belongs to the mint family used in many Japanese dishes.
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XX(from left: shimeji, maitake, shiso)
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Ingredients (serves 1)
handful of shimeji mushrooms
handful of maitake mushrooms
4-5 leaves of shiso
garlic (however much you like)
pinch of salt, black pepper
a bit of olive oil
freshly grated parmesan cheese
spaghettini

While the spaghettini boils, wash shimeji, maitake, shiso leaves, take apart shimeji and maitake into smaller bunches. Cut shiso leaves into thin strips, and mince the garlic.

Heat skillet, saute minced garlic with olive oil until golden, throw in shimeji and maitake, add a bit of salt and pepper, stir for 3-4 minutes. Add cooked spaghettini, shiso leaves, saute until well mixed. Sprinkle freshly grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
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