Triplet Mushrooms (Must Try!)

I first heard of this recipe from Fang Tai off the television. She did it with oyster sauce and sprinkled it with crispy fried, bits of bacon. But Don and I experimented with this dish for a while and we modified it to our taste. It was one of the life savers that helped us shed more than 15 kg each about 5 years ago! And certainly everyone who had tasted it gave it the thumbs up. All the mushrooms used in this dish can be bought in NTUC. You can choose any 3 types. In fact, if you like mushrooms, you can even use more than 3 kinds, although I think the taste of too many might spoil the broth!

If you love mushrooms, this will dazzle you to bits!

Equipment:

1. Wok or non-stick saucepan with lid
   
2. Wooden spatula to fry ingredients in your non-stick saucepan
3. Chopping Board
4. Chopper or chef knife
5. Big presenting plate or mega-sized porcelain bowl

Ingredients:

You can choose any 3 of the following types of mushrooms to use, but personally, I like to use the oyster mushrooms in all my dishes as it has such a distinctive taste.

1. Oyster Mushrooms --- 1 pack
   
2. White button mushrooms --- 1 box
3. Brown button mushrooms --- 1 box
4. Portobello mushrooms --- 1 box
5. Shi-itake mushrooms --- 1 pack
   
6. Chinese mushrooms --- about 8 large
   

Note for cleaning mushrooms:

• For mushroom types (1) and (5), I'll give them a quick rinse under running water.
  
• For mushrooms types (2), (3) and (4), use a damp cloth to wipe the mushrooms clean. Washing these with water will affect their texture.
• For mushroom type (6), dip them in a bowl full of water, wash off the dirt from their caps and throw away the first rinse. Then soak them in the same bowl with a fresh lot of water for at least 20 minutes. This way, you can use the water you've soaked these mushrooms to add to your dish later.
  

Other ingredients:

1. Garlic --- 6 cloves
2. Dash of oil for frying the garlic
   
3. Oyster sauce --- 3 tablesoons
4. Cornflour --- 1 tablespoon
5. Water --- half to 1 cup (depending on how thick or thin you like your gravy)
   
6. Basil herb --- as much as you like
7. Oregano herb --- as much as you like
8. Rosemary herb --- none or as much as you like (some people don't like its distintive taste, so you might want to go easy on it if it's your first time using it)
   

Optional:

1. Flat-leaf Parsley or coriander for garnishing

Method:

Chop up the garlic and throw it into the pan to stir fry with a dash of oil till fragrant. Then throw in your 3 choices of mushrooms and pour in the oyster sauce. After coating the mushrooms with the sauce, put on the lid and let the fungi (yeah, mushrooms are fungi!) cook till they let out their own juices. You can add a little water to help the process if you think the heat is too high and the mushrooms are burning too fast at the bottom of the pot. Once the mushrooms have all caramelized and their juices have been given out, you'll see their flesh soften and the fragrance is absolutely heavenly!

When you think they're soft enough, add the cornflour and water for thickening. Finally, sprinkle generous amounts of the basil and oregano herb, or any other herbs you fancy. In traditional Chinese cooking, you probably wouldn't use such Italian herbs. But the fusion of Italian herbs with Chinese Oyster sauce was such a succesful experiment that everyone loved it. Just give it a try if you can't imagine it. You really must try this to give your taste buds a whole new experience. That's what I love about being a Singaporean. We have no qualms about mixing cultural foods! As a finishing touch, garnish the dish with parsley.

Final result: Triplet Mushrooms (the ultimate sensation!)