Mushroom Sauce

Vegetarianism is also known as having a plant-based diet, strictly speaking, meats, such as red meat, poultry, seafood, etc., are avoided. People who follow this diet usually only eat foods derived from plants, like fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, etc. In addition, there are still vegetarians who eat products derived from eggs, milk, butter, cheese, or cream. In the past, this diet was for religious people, mainly Buddhists. But today this is no longer a frugal eating habit only for monastics. This diet has become a movement to live a healthy and happy life. It is a healthy diet, which is being encouraged by scientists around the world. However, vegetarianism without understanding, eating the wrong way, will lead to bad health consequences. For that, I will now present an easy and healthy recipe to use with most main meals. This is the mushroom sauce that can be used for baking, steaming dishes, or with cooked rice or noodles. The sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for a week or frozen as well too.

Ingredients:

4 oz. of a combination of dried mushrooms, such as Shitake, King mushrooms, morels, etc.

12 oz. fresh mushrooms

1/4 cup oil

2 tbs sesame seeds

2 tsp fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup white onion, diced

1 tbs chilli Korean powder

Sauce ingredients:

2 cups coconut water or water

1/4 cup vegan oyster sauce

2 tbs Hoisin sauce

1/4 cup honey or sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tsp mushroom seasoning

1 tsp. black pepper

Thickening sauce ingredients:

2 tbs cornstarch + 2 tbs water

Directions:

Soak the dried mushrooms for 1 hour. Drain and roughly chop

Slice the fresh mushrooms. 

Place the fresh mushrooms and roughly chopped dried mushrooms in a blender and use the pulse button to chop both types of mushrooms. Do not overdo the blending of the mushrooms. 

Combine all the sauce ingredients and mix well.

In the large sauce pan, heat oil; then add the diced onion, minced garlic and ginger. Stir and cook until fragrant. Stir in Korean chilli powder. Cook for 1 more minutes

Stir in mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms seem to dry out. Add the sauce and bring to boil. Let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes. Adjust the seasoning to your liking and stir in the thickening ingredients. Let the sauce simmer for few minutes. 

Pour the sauce in a jar with lid and refrigerate.