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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Grilled Hen of the Woods with Ginger-Soy Vinaigrette

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hen of the woods mushroom maitake

A nice 5 pounder.

There’s something so primal about a big hen of the woods and breaking off giant clusters to cook whole like a piece of meat, there a great entry level mushroom too, easy to identify, big in size, typically worm-free, delicious.

I don’t know any cooking technique more raw than cooking over burning wood, so what better way to treat those giant caveman clusters of mushrooms than on the grill?

Get some matches, a handful of dried logs and light’em up. When they’re ready, the slow burn of the wood embers gives you a totally different flavor than conventional charcoal too, it’s almost like smoking them. 

grilled hen of the woods mushroom

After your hens/maitake are all grilled, browned and caramelized, one of the best things I know to do is just to hit them with a little vinaigrette to cut through the richness of the grill, then add a little salad or some vegetables and call it a day.

The vinaigrette here is a heady combo of soy and ginger, with an adjustable amount of heat. It’s great with a bowl of rice and a few wilted greens, or whatever you want.

This specific recipe I did for an issue of Make it Minnesota Magazine, which came out in 2018, if I remember correctly, I’m not exactly sure which issue, or I’d point you to it, but I am sure that grilled hen steaks are great, and this is a fun treatment for them if you want something new to try. 

Grilled hen of the woods mushroom with ginger soy vinaigrette recipe
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Grilled Hen of the Woods Mushrooms with Ginger-Soy Vinaigrette

Grilled hen of the woods with a zippy ginger vinaigrette.  By themselves, a 4-6 ounce cluster will feed a person as a vegetarian entree. Serve these with a little steamed rice (or wild rice), extra vinaigrette on the side, sliced scallions, chopped cilantro, and toasted sesame seeds. Serves 2.
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: Hen of the woods mushroom, Maitake
Servings: 2

Ingredients

Hens

  • 2 large 4-6 ounce clusters of hen of the woods cleaned and left whole
  • Dried firewood or wood charcoal for your grill+makings of a fire like matches and paper I like to stay away from lighter fluid
  • A rag and some oil or lard for the grill grates
  • A pastry brush for applying the vinaigrette

Ginger-Soy Vinaigrette (makes a cup)

  • Ingredients
  • 3/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon Sriracha style hot sauce or more to taste
  • 1 large garlic clove
  • 1 teaspoon ground szechuan peppercorns / prickly ash berries they won't be completely ground

Instructions

Grill the hens

  • Prepare a wood fire. When the embers are nice and hot, about 30 minutes, rub the grill grates with the oiled rag, then grill the hens, turning every few minutes to brush them with the vinaigrette.
  • Make sure not to put too much vinaigrette on the hen steaks or the grill can flare.
  • When the mushrooms are completely cooked through and caramelized, remove and serve with some of the vinaigrette on the side.

Vinaigrette

  • Put all ingredients in a blender except the sesame oil.
  • Puree the mixture on medium speed, drizzling in the oil to reduce friction and help everything get smooth.
  • Transfer the vinaigrette to a labeled, dated container and refrigerate until needed.

More 

Hen of the Woods or Maitake Mushroom

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Alan Bergo
I made vegan fish sauce from ramp juice. You tak I made vegan fish sauce from ramp juice. 

You take the pure juice of the leaves, mix it with salt, Koji rice, and more chopped fresh ramp leaves, then ferment it for a bit. 

After the fermentation you put it into a dehydrator and cook it at 145-150 F for 30 days. 

The slow heat causes a Maillard/browning reaction over time. 

After 30 days you strain the liquid and bottle it. It’s the closest thing to plant-based fish sauce I’ve had yet. 

The potency of ramps is a pretty darn good approximation of the glutamates in meat. But you could prob make something similar with combinations of other alliums. 

The taste is crazy. I get toasted ramp, followed by mellow notes from the fermentation. Potent and delicate at the same time. 

I’ve been using it to make simple Japanese-style dipping sauces for tempura etc. 

Pics: 
2: Ramp juice 
3: Juicy leaf pulp 
4: Squeezing excess juice from the pulp
5: After 5 days at 145F 
6: After 30 days 
7: Straining through Muslin to finish

#ramps #veganfishsauce #experimentalfood #kojibuildscommunity #fermentation #foraging
Oeufs de Gaulle is a classic morel recipe Jacques Oeufs de Gaulle is a classic morel recipe Jacques Pepin used to make for French president Charles de Gaulle. 

You bake eggs in a ramekin with shrimp topped with creamy morel sauce and eat with toast points. 

Makes for a really special brunch or breakfast. Recipe’s on my site, but it’s even better to watch Jacques make it on you tube. 

#jacquespepin #morels #shrimp #morilles #brunchtime
Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each instead of the pound. 

Good day today, although my Twin Cities spots seem a full two weeks behind from the late spring. 2 hours south they were almost all mature. 

76 for me and 152 for the group. Check your spots, and good luck! 

#morels #murkels #mollymoochers #drylandfish #spongemushroom #theprecious
The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natu The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natural secretion of water I typically see with plants. 

I understand it as an indicator that the mushrooms are growing rapidly, and a byproduct of their metabolism speeding up. If you have some clarifications, chime in. 

Most people know it from Hydnellum 
peckii-another polypore. I’ve never seen it on pheasant backs before.

Morels are coming soon too. Mine were 1 inch tall yesterday in the Twin Cities. 

#guttation #mushroomhunting #cerioporussquamosus #pheasantback #naturesbeauty
Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a grocery store. 

#groceryshopping #sochan #rudbeckialaciniata #foraging
Italian wild food traditions are some of my favori Italian wild food traditions are some of my favorite. 

Case in point: preboggion, a mixture of wild plants, that, depending on the reference, should be made with 5-23 individual plants. 

Here’s a few mixtures I’ve made this spring, along with a reference from the Oxford companion to Italian food. 

The mixture should include some bitter greens (typically assorted asters) but the most important plant is probably borage. 

Making your own version is a good excercise. Here they’re wilted with garlic and oil, but there’s a bunch of traditional recipes the mixture is used in. 

Can you believe this got cut from my book?!

#preboggion #preboggiun #foraging #traditionalfoods
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