Feral Cooks

Good food shouldn't be tame

Curried Mushroom Salad

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I ran across this recipe at the library while browsing through some cookbooks. I hadn’t realized author Masaharu Morimoto was the Iron Chef until I looked him up at home—I had never seen the show. Not being much for TV chefs, I would have just skipped over this recipe.

Candidly, it’s a disappointing dish. It’s posted, though, because others may enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong, the Feral Cooks love every kind of mushroom, cooked in just about every way, but the curry power just wasn’t the right fit.

I pretty much followed his recipe, with minor changes.

What you’ll need

  • 3T unsalted butter (substitute in fake butter to make this vegan)
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 0.75 lbs (365g) various mushrooms (I used enoki, oyster and portabella)
  • 1 cup cooked white rice
  • 1T white wine (I used sake)
  • 2T Madras curry powder (I would think most curry powders would work)
  • Salt and ground black pepper
  • Scallion greens, sliced or fried shallots (for garnish)

What to do

Melt the butter in a large frypan over medium-high heat. When the butter’s melted and the pan is hot, add the shallot and sauté it for a minute, before adding the garlic and mushrooms. Continue sautéing for a couple more minutes until the mushrooms begin to soften and start shedding water.

Stir in the cooked rice and cook the mixture for 2 more minutes. Add the wine and curry powder, stirring well to ensure everything is evenly distributed. Salt and pepper, to taste—it will definitely need both.

Serve hot or warm.

Roy Choi’s Dynamite Rice (kind of)

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This is a take on chef Roy Choi’s Dynamite rice. Two important notes: 1) I’ve never had the real dish at his restaurant; what I made is based on the numerous copycat recipes floating round online, and 2) I used teriyaki chicken instead of uni. The one time I had uni in Japan it tasted to me like ultra-concentrated fish flavor with an unfortunate consistency.

All in all, this dish turned out delicious, though I’m sure it’s a far cry from chef Choi’s copycat-inspiring recipe. By the way, check out The Chef Show, hosted by Jon Favreau and Roy Choi. The show has a great vibe, without all the stupid and fake anger and antics of some similar, but unwatchable programs.

What you’ll need for the rice

  • 1 cup uncooked rice
  • 1T black vinegar
  • 2t soy sauce
  • 2t mirin or sake
  • 1t sesame oil
  • 3T kewpie-style mayo
  • 2t hot sauce, preferably sriracha
  • 0.5t yuzu (use half and half of lemon and lime juice as a substitute)
  • Green onion slices as an optional garnish

If you’re topping the rice with teriyaki chicken, go here for the recipe.

What to do

Cook the rice by whatever method you use. When the rice is done, thoroughly mix in the black vinegar, soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil. Keep warm until ready for broiling.

Mix the mayo, hot sauce and yuzu in a small bowl. Set aside.

If topping the rice with teriyaki chicken, prepare it right before you broil the rice.

When the chicken is ready, split the rice among ramakins or mini frypans. Smooth the top of the rice and spread on an even layer of the mayo mixture.

Put the rice under a hot broiler for 2 – 3 minutes. The mayo should be bubbly. Remove from the broiler and top with the chicken and green onion. Serve hot.

Opor Ayam (Indonesian Coconut Milk Chicken)

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Here’s another version of opor ayum that’s just as delicious as this version, but with a bit of a different flavor profile. It shows how different parts of Indonesia interpret the same dishes.

Javanese often make this mild curry for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Fitr. And the lack of hot peppers in the foundational bumbu spice paste makes it more tolerable for those not used to hot curries.

Please note this dish is definitely better made with boneless chicken thighs.


What you’ll need for the chicken

  • 1T neutral oil
  • 6 lime leaves
  • 6 chicken thighs, bone in, skin removed (trust me, boneless is better)
  • 3 lemongrass sticks, trimmed, bruised and tied in a knot
  • 3 cm (1.5 inches) piece of galangal, skin scrubbed, bruised (just skip if you can’t find in the store)
  • 240 ml (1.5 cups) coconut milk
  • 2t palm sugar
  • fried shallots, for serving

What you’ll need for the Bumbu spice paste

  • 1.5t ground coriander
  • 1t ground cumin
  • 0.5t ground white pepper
  • 7 garlic cloves, peeled and very roughly chopped
  • 7 small red Asian shallots, peeled and very roughly chopped
  • 3 candlenuts or 6 blanched almonds, toasted (never eat candlenuts raw)
  • 0.5t salt

What to do

Make the bumbu spice paste by putting all the ingredients in a food processor and grinding them to a paste. Add a bit of water if the ingredients stick to the sides of the processor.

Heat the oil in a large, high-sided frypan (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat and fry the bumbu paste and lime leaves for about 5 minutes, stirring often until very fragrant. Add the chicken, lemongrass and galangal and turn to coat them in the spice paste. Stir in 100ml (0.5 cups) water and bring the mixture to a low boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Add the coconut milk and palm sugar to the pan, then bring it up to a simmer; continue to braise uncovered for another 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Add salt, if needed, then leave it in the pan to cool for about 20 minutes.

Serve topped fried shallots over rice.