Recipe by Angus An, Maenam Restaurant

Recipe

Serves 4  

Avoid dried chanterelle mushrooms, as they'll release too much water once you rehydrate them. Using fresh baby corn is best, but if you must use canned, rinse for 30 minutes in cold water to release the brine flavour.

Ingredients

Garlic-chili paste

3 cloves garlic

3 to 5 red Thai bird's eye chilies

Pinch of coarse sea salt and white pepper

2 red chili peppers, deseeded and sliced

Stir-Fry

½ lb fresh chanterelle mushrooms

¼ lb fresh baby corn

2 stalks fresh green peppercorns

3 tbsp canola oil

2 tbsp garlic-chili paste (recipe follows)

4 to 6 tbsp fish sauce

Small pinch of granulated sugar

Small pinch of white pepper

½ cup fresh Thai basil leaves

1 tbsp julienned ginger

1 tbsp julienned grachai

Directions

For the Garlic-Chili Paste: Using a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, chilies, salt and white pepper into a paste. Add the red chili peppers to the mortar and lightly bruise them. Set the paste aside.

For the Stir-Fry: Clean the mushrooms with a dry brush to remove any dirt stuck between their gills. If the cap is really dirty, use a slightly dampened dish towel to wipe off the dirt. Do not wash under water. Keep the mushrooms whole if they€™re small, and tear the larger ones in half. Cut the baby corn in half lengthwise down the middle.

Preheat a wok to medium heat, add the oil, then add the mushrooms, green peppercorns, corn and garlic-chili paste and stir-fry together for 2 to 3 minutes. Season with fish sauce, sugar and white pepper. Finish by folding in the Thai basil, ginger, and grachai. The dish should have a mild taste with a hint of richness from the Thai basil, but not too much as it will overpower the delicate mushrooms.

Excerpted from Maenam by Angus An.
Copyright © 2020 Angus An.
Photography by Darren Cheung.
Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher.
All rights reserved