One of my favorite cooking shows of all time is the original Iron Chef. No, not the modern version that plays over and over on Food Network right now, but the one taped in Japan with the silly English dubbing that always cracks me up. The episode that I drooled most over was “Battle Matsutake.” Matsutake Tempura?! Oh hello lover!

So since that episode, I’ve been pining for Matsutake mushrooms. I kept hearing that in Japan, it’s a seasonal, rare, expensive thing….so I just sorta passed it up as, “okay, one day…” type of food.

And a couple of weeks ago I found out that Matsutake mushrooms are harvested here in the Pacific Northwest (okay, not really “here” as I’m in Florida, but I mean here as in American soil!) and this year is one of abundance. My good friend Dave from Earthy sent me an email when they first started arriving, and I almost canceled the rest of my travel plans to come home so I could play with the ’shrooms.

But how to cook?

Marc of No Recipes and Stephan of Zen Can Cook came to the rescue with ideas and recipes. I had dinner with both of them a few months ago in NYC, but we don’t have a photo to prove it.

Because we were too damn busy eating, laughing and stuffing our faces at dinner. Oh and drinking lots too. No wonder!

So, if you’re lucky enough to get your hands on a few Matsutake mushrooms, remember to keep the recipe simple. The mushroom is so fragrant and earthy that you don’t want manipulate it too much. Keep it simple, with few good quality ingredients and enjoy its natural aroma and taste.

What is Matsutake Mushroom?

Fall is the season of Matsutake mushrooms. In Japan, it’s a highly prized mushroom, perfect specimens selling for as much as $250 for 6 small Matsutake mushrooms! I compare it to truffles – the Matsutake has a penetrating, deep earthy aroma. It’s texture is thick, meaty and hearty.

Matsu = pine
Take = mushroom

The Matsutake grows only under pine trees, and I’ve heard that the never grow in the same place twice. How frustrating for mushroom hunters, eh? American Matsutake is a little different from the Japanese species, but just as fragrant and delicious.

Hsiao-Ching Chou wrote, “In that regard, the matsutake resembles the truffle, which lends its perfume to any preparation it encounters. A broth with several slices of a pine mushroom would be served in a lidded bowl or pot, for example, so that the scent of earthy pine with a tinge of cinnamon swirls within the container until it is finally released.”

Hurry! Matsutake mushrooms are only available September through November!

How to make Matsutake Dobin Mushi

First, clean your mushroom with a damp cloth, wiping off as much dirt as possible. Cut off the tough bottom nub of the mushroom. Use a paring knife, turn the knife around so that you’re using the upper dull edge, and scrape off the thin outer layer on the stem.

Cleaned mushrooms and trimmed stems

We’ll be making dashi broth from scratch. You’ll need 3 ingredients to make dashi – water, bonito flakes and dried kelp.

To make dashi, use large bonito flakes or katsuobushi. They come in a big package at the Asian market. Look for the big flakes. The little flakes are for garnishing. Big flakes should be the size of a cornflake.

Look how beautiful these bonito fish flakes are! So light, airy, flakey. Don’t sneeze.

You’ll also need a 6-inch piece of dried kelp (seaweed) or kombu for dashi:

They usually come long, folded and then dried. You’ll only need 6-inches and just a single layer, so break it apart.

Do not soak the kelp or even rinse it. Just take a damp cloth and wipe it down to clean any dirt off the seaweed. Add the kelp to water and turn the heat to medium-low.

Just before it comes to a boil, add two big handfuls of bonito flakes, stir and turn off the heat immediately.

Then strain.

The kombu is still good! Don’t throw it away….

Just rinse and pat dry. Let dry on your counter top and then when the kelp is completely dry, store back in your pantry. You can reuse.

Now it’s time to make the dobin mushi. Ladle the strained dashi into a teapot.

Next, add the ingredients. Today, I had sliced fish, sliced carrots and sliced Matsutake mushrooms. I have also make dobin mushi with chicken, shrimp and ginko nuts. What you add to your dobin mushi is up to you. Below, I have a list of links to dobin mushi recipes that you can look at.

Place all ingredients into the teapot. Also add Japanese sake, a touch of soy sauce and just a sliver of lime peel.

Dobin mushi is steamed, not boiled directly on a flame. I have a wok here and have inserted a steamer stand. Bring water to a boil.

Place the teapot on the steamer rack.

Cover with lid.

Steam for 8 minutes.

Pour the aromatic broth into a teacup.

And then enjoy the goodies inside the pot.

Treasure hunting!

More Matsutake

Matsutake Mushrooms from Earthy.com

Fantastic Forage

A Recipe to Savor the Autumn: Kinoko Dobin Mushi

Matsutake Dobin Mushi Recipe

Mad About Matsutake

Introduction to Matsutake

Wild about Matsutake

Hunting for Matsutake Mushrooms

The world has gone bacon crazy, and unfortunately it has nothing to do with the food item actually made from pork belly. I’m talking about products sold in tubes, squeeze bottles, jars, cans and tablets, all flashing the word “Bacon!” as it’s only selling point and not an ounce of real pork in its ingredients. Apparently, that one word is so powerful, the products are still flying off the shelves!

I’ve seen “bakon” vodka (Twitter member @MarcSeattle said it tastes like “bac-os mixed with motor oil”), zero-calorie bacon flavor spray packaged in a hairspray-like bottle by celebrity chef David Burke, cardboard bacon air freshener that you can dangle from your rearview mirror and even bacon-flavored lip balm. When did pretending to staple two strips of fatty pig to lips become sexy?

I recently visited a friend who happens to be a vegetarian. Before I could even put my purse down and exchange pleasantries, she excitedly thrust a jar at me, “This is my newest obsession…bacon flavored mayonnaise…Baconnaise! Isn’t it genius!?” Though I have to admit, it’s not that bad in a sandwich. And I get the excitement, especially for those who are omnivores-turned-vegetarians but miss the whole meat flavor thing.

For me, I’d rather have the real deal. Spraying “bacon” flavoring on my eggs in the morning just seems so pathetic! And there’s no better way to enjoy steak than to slather it with a butter made of real bacon and real blue cheese!

Step-by-Step: Bacon and Blue Cheese Butter

First thing you’ve gotta do is cook your bacon and then mince it up in teeny tiny pieces. You should also crumble your blue cheese if it’s not crumbled already.

Soften your butter to room temperature — I use unsalted butter because the bacon and blue cheese are already salty. Smash, smush and mix with a fork.

Grab a large piece of parchment paper and plop down your bacon near the edge.

Now time to dust off your cigar-rolling/cigarette rolling or whatever rolling skills you have and roll the butter tight in the parchment paper, smoothing and evening out the butter so that it becomes a nice, tight, even log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Though, really, size doesn’t matter in this case. If you want a bigger butter log, go for it. But make sure you’re rolling and smoothing tight because you don’t want air bubbles or lumps.

Twist the ends tight (to compact butter even more). Refrigerate until firm, an hour should do the trick …or if you run out of time, stick it in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Ladies and gent…may I present to you umami-ness….Bacon and Blue Cheese Butter. Open that baby up and slice into 1/2-inch coins. You can use this butter on vegetables, fish, baked potatoes….ooooh….baked potatoes….

….or top a hot, just-taken-off-the-grill steak with a slab of this precious Bacon and Blue Cheese Butter.

Here’s my latest video from Good Bite – a roundtable with friends Matt Armendariz and Julie Van Rosendaal and we talk about S-S-S-SOUP!

I’m a lazy souper.

Well, let me rephrase that. I’m a forgetful and highly distractable gal and anything that sits on the stovetop for more than 30 minutes tends to be forgotten about, and that means long simmering soups.

So I have to use shortcuts like the pressure cooker or longcuts like the slow cooker (but at least there’s an auto shut-off) or better yet, I make soups that only take 10 minutes from start to finish….like my 10-minute miso soup recipe!

But watch and find out what Matt and Julie love about soup!

And here we have lovely Aarti showing you how to make the miso soup:

The recipe for 10-Minute Miso Soup is on Good Bite

I know you know my friend Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, right? Of course you know her! Ree one of my fav bloggers – she’s just as genuine, funny and gracious in person as she is on the blog. I’ve even spooned with her.

I can’t believe that I haven’t mentioned Ree’s latest adventure to you before, it’s simply addictive, fun and delicious…a site called Tasty Kitchen. And this is where you can find one of my must-try recipes, a Kickin’ Tequila Shrimp.

I recently made this dish on the Daytime Show and not only was it a massive hit with the host of the show (and me too), practically the entire camera crew came and hovered over the dish after we finished our segment.

What makes the Tequila Shrimp “kickin’” is the additional Tabasco Tequila – WOWZA!! Take a swig and that baby will kick you in ass! But when you cook with the Tabasco Tequila, it’s smooth and the spiciness mellows out.

Now, let me back up and say that I *don’t* drink tequila. Oh no, I learned my tequila shot lesson…oh…let’s say…in 1995 at a bar…errr…at the back of the bar. Enough said.

But, I lovelovelove to cook with tequila, and this Tequila Shrimp recipe is spot-on. So I’m excited to share the recipe with you – come view the video and then head over to Ree’s Tasty Kitchen site to get the recipe.

Kickin’ Tequila Shrimp Video

Every time I’m back in Hong Kong, I head straight for a good dim sum restaurant. If you haven’t had dim sum before, it’s as close to competitive eating as I’ve ever experienced. And I’m not talking about the amount of food consumed, either. In Hong Kong, many dim sum restaurants don’t have a nice, orderly wait list, buzzing beepers or call-aheads. Instead, you start by taking a calculating, broad sweep of the entire layout, and in a split-second survey which dining guests are closest to asking for the check.

You then divide up your party, assign tables (even the kids) and plant yourself right there at the table

This signals that you are next to take that table. Not too close, because if the table considers you rude, they’d just linger at the table longer to piss you off. But not too far, because another waiting patron could come squeeze in and take claim.

The moment that the very first guest lifts his/her torso to get out of the chair, you must quickly, effectively and stealthy signal to the rest of your party to dash over and take control of the table-handoff situation. Timing is important. Because if the rest of your party doesn’t recognize your signal, too much time passes or worse yet, ANOTHER waiting party sees your signal and makes a mad dash in for a hostile takeover, you’re totally screwed. And once more than half the table is seated by hostile takeover, you have no chance in hell to get the table back, even if it was rightfully yours.

And I haven’t even gotten to the best part – since the cart-pushers are paid on commission, there’s competition for having the A+, easy-selling dishes like Shrimp Har Gow (you wouldn’t want to be stuck with Black Moss Lotus Seed Steamed Duck Tongue that only a few people would find appetizing). They even jockey for floor space with pushers teaming up to cart-block a path to a good table with hungry guests. Yes, it gets nasty.

Thank goodness we don’t have to experience that type of competitive sport here in Tampa Bay. A few weeks ago, I was shooting a television segment at Publix Greenwise and then afterwards scooted over to T.C. Choy’s Asian Bistro across the street and got to enjoy a dim-sum lunch sans vultures.

I’ve asked them for a recipe to publish, and this is a brand new one that will be part of their new menu. While it’s not a typical “dim sum” dish, it certainly is a very popular recipe from Hong Kong.