Recipe: Oyster-Mushroom Finger Chips

A couple of weekends ago, when I went for shopping, I found Oyster Mushroom and when I cooked it then, I had some nostalgic moment in my kitchen. The first time I had this mushroom was in India, when one of my seniors from Indonesia introduced me to this. I am a bit skeptical with mushrooms other than button mushrooms as for sensitive stomachs, mushrooms are not the first choice of food, but this oyster-mushroom is neutral enough I guess. It taste so good that I started eating it pretty often. It was my friend, Nath's favorite too. When I cooked it today, it reminds me of her easy-going, my food my cooking, and everything is fair in love, war, and my cooking attitude of her. She often made me produce horror face when she was cooking, but the end result was never disappointing. I should admit, I miss her soup, satay, and the way she fried these mushrooms. Whenever she was around, the kitchen would be the best place to find horror, comedy, and excellent food. However, today I will share this recipe with you. This is not a big-time recipe, though. Even a man from Mars who never visited a kitchen could cook this. The things you need (based on what I used today):

250gr Oyster Mushroom
6 full tbsp of wheat flour
8 full tbsp of rice flour
A glass of water
Oil for frying

Spices:

Half inch of ginger
1 tsp of black pepper
6 cloves of big garlic or 10-12 of small ones
A dash of salt

How To Prepare:

Wash the mushroom in water which has been mixed with some salt. Set aside.
Grind all the spices and make it into paste or liquidy paste in my case of cooking today.
Mix the paste with the wheat flour and water until it reach medium consistency. Set aside.
Place the rice flour on a dry plate and add a bit of salt in that flour.
Heat the oil in the pan or wok (whatever you are using) and keep the flame in medium-high to give a crunchy result of the mushroom.
Dip the mushroom in the wet dough and roll it on the dry rice flour.
Deep fry until golden brown. When you put the mushroom in the oil, it should give a "brave" sizzling sound as the sign of good heat. If it gives "shy" sizzling sound, it means your oil is not hot enough and your mushroom will be less crunchy. Let me remind you, it won't take more than a minute, so don't put it in the oil and start talking on the phone. You would end up with charcoal finger chips if you do that.
Then serve hot with chili sauce, tartar sauce, or any sauce of your choice. For those who love mushrooms, I guarantee that you would enjoy this.

Note:

When you buy the mushroom, they have to look white and fresh. Don't buy if the color has started to change to light brown.
You could add chili and onion in the spices if you are fond of oriental taste.
Make sure the oil is hot enough when you start frying or you won't get anything crunchy.
You could use this dish as an appetizer for any dinner or luncheon, tea-time with family or friends, or just for all-day munching like what I'm doing :)

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