Three Cups Mushrooms

Three Cups Mushrooms

Mushrooms lovers will love this vegetarian variation of the Taiwanese three cups chicken recipe using fresh shiitake mushrooms. I have leftover sweet basil leaves and decided to cook a three cups dish. Since we just had the chicken version a week ago, I made a meatless variation this time. “Three Cups” refers to the trio combination of sesame oil, soy sauce and Chinese wine, but it does not mean using one cup each of the condiment – rather, equal parts (1:1:1) of each depending on the quantity you are cooking. The 1:1:1 formula is flexible too, for example, I usually add less soy sauce and more Chinese wine and sesame oil. The mushrooms cook quickly (about 5 minutes of simmering), so this is a great side dish on busy nights. Three cups dishes are traditionally cooked in a claypot, but you can always use a regular wok or pan if you do not have one.

Ingredients
(Serves 2-3)

- 250g fresh shiitake mushrooms, stalks trimmed (for larger caps, I halve them)
- 1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce (Supposed to be 1 1/2 tbsp based on 1:1:1 ratio, but I find that 1 tbsp is salty enough)
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese wine (Hua Tiao/Shao Hsing)
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 10 cloves garlic, peeled & slightly bruised
- 1 carrot, peeled and sliced thinly
- 6 slices ginger
- 2 stalks spring onions, cut to 5cm (2 inch) lengths
- 40ml water
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- a generous handful of fresh sweet basil leaves

Directions
1. Heat sesame oil in clay pot or wok and add garlic cloves, ginger, the thick bottom white ends of the spring onions. Stir fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
2. Add mushrooms and carrots, stir fry briefly. Don’t worry if the clay pot looks crowded, the mushrooms will shrink considerably when cooked.
3. Sizzle Chinese wine and add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, water and sugar. Stir evenly, and cover the lid to simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are cooked and tender soft.
4. When the dish is cooked, stir in the remaining spring onions and fresh basil leaves before serving.

Cooking Note
1. Variations. You can add wolfberries (about 1/2 tbsp) and sliced chilli for additional colour and/or heat.
2. For best results, cook this dish in a claypot.

Related Article
- Claypot Cooking Care

Check out all claypot recipes.

Similar Recipes
- Three Cups Chicken
- Sesame Oil Chicken

Ingredients Used basil • chinese wine • dark soy sauce • garlic • ginger • light soy sauce • mushroom • sesame oil • spring onion • sugar

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