Ka lei kok is a Chinese snack and it literally translates to “Curry triangle”. Usually, it is made with chicken but in this recipe we substitute the chicken with a mix of two winter mushrooms: the Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) and the Velvet shank (Flammulina velutipes) also (not entirely accurately) called Enoki. Both mushrooms can be found on dead and decaying wood.
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The oyster mushroom, which you can find in the wild during winter, is a closely related mushroom to the one found in the supermarket. The main difference between them is the color. The one found in the shop has a more pale cap.
The velvet shank was believed to be the same mushroom as the Enoki mushroom found in Asian supermarkets. Recent DNA research has shown that theses two mushrooms are not the exact same species but closely related. Moreover, the cultivated variety is grown in deep pots, in the dark, and because of that they are completely white and have elongated stems.
Some care should be taken when picking the velvet shanks as there are some (for the untrained eye) dangerous look-a-likes. Taking a spore print and confirming that all the mushrooms you picked have a white spore print can give you certainty as the dangerous look-a-likes have dark spores.
Be sure to make a spore print of every single mushroom, as mushrooms of multiple species can grow on the same piece of wood. Use aluminum foil to see the white color of the spores.
Ka lei kok with winter mushrooms
Equipment
- 1 Brush
- 1 cutting board
- 1 Frying pan
Ingredients
- Cooking oil
- 200 gram Mix of Oyster mushrooms and Velvet shanks (cap only)
- 1/2 Leak
- 2 Shallots
- 1 Chillie pepper
- 1 tbsp Curry powder
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
- 1/2 tbsp Dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
- 1 egg Used to seal the triangles, can be substituted with water.
- 10 Springroll wrappers
Instructions
Preparing the filling
- Cut the mushrooms in small chunks. Only use the caps of the Velvet shanks.
- Roughly chop the leak, shallots and chillies. Put in a food processor together with the sesame oil and blend into a paste. Some cooking oil can be added if needed for blending.
- Fry the mushrooms in 2 table spoons of neutral cooking oil until soft.
- Add the vegetable paste and fry for 2 minutes or so while regularly stirring.
- Lower the heat and add the curry powder. Fry for another minute or so.
- Add the soy sauce and cooking wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Form the triangles
- Cut a springroll wrapper in half and put around a table spoon of the mushroom mixture in the corner of the sheet.
- Brush the remaining surface of the sheet with either an egg wash or water. Egg wash gives a superior result but water can be used to keep the recipe vegan.
- Fold over the edges one time as show in the picture.
- the second time….
- and the third time.
Final fry
- Fry the triangles in a generous amount of oil on medium to high heat on both sides until golden brown.
