Recipe: Wild Mushroom & Kale Toban
This wild mushroom dish is nutrient-dense due to its high concentration of plants, and offers high quantities of some of the key nutrients that the human body uses to make the serotonin and dopamine.
Sunflower seeds are especially rich in folate, also found in kale and broccoli, so much so that one portion supplies over 100% of the day’s suggestion intake. Seeds are also very rich in B1, B3 and B6, needed for neurotransmitters.
Magnesium is also to be found in abundance, which may help alleviate anxiety and promote relaxation as it is involved in normal muscle function.
Lastly, one portion delivers nearly all the days requirement for zinc, used in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that regulates emotion and memory.
Wild Mushroom & Kale Toban, Sprouting Broccoli, Sunflower Seed, Onsen Egg, Black Truffle
WILD MUSHROOMS
Ingredients:
– 500g wild mushroom mix
– 50ml olive oil
Method:
• Pick and wash the mushrooms
• Saute lightly in oil
• Season and reserve
SPROUTING BROCCOLI
Ingredients:
– 2 bunch purple sprouting broccoli
Method:
• Remove hard stalk, but keep florets and good leaves
• Blanch or steam for 4-5 mins, refresh in ice water
• Season and reserve
PURPLE KALE
Ingredients:
– 1 handful Purple Kale
Method:
• Pick and wash the kale
• Blanch or steam for 3 mins, refresh in ice water
• Season and reserve
SUNFLOWER SEED PUREE
Ingredients:
– 500g sunflower seeds
– 100ml olive oil
– 6-8 button mushrooms
– Salt & pepper
Method:
• Put all the ingredients in a sauce pan and enough water to cover
• Bring to the boil, then simmer for 1 hour or until very soft — make sure they’re always just covered with water
• Allow to cool a little and then blitz everything to a smooth puree — take care while blitzing hot ingredients!
• Season
• Reheat to order and keep hot
SAUCE
Ingredients:
– 20ml light soy
– 20ml dark soy
– 60ml Shaoxing wine
– 100ml mushroom stock
– 1 star anise
– 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
– 1-2 tsp potato flour mixed, with a little cold water
Method:
• Heat all the ingredients (except potato flour mix) and simmer for 5 mins
• Take out the star anise and add the potato flour
• Bring to the boil and reserve
ASSEMBLY
Ingredients:
– 2 burford brown eggs, poached
– 2 tbsp pumpkin seed oil
– 1 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
– Black truffle
Method:
• In a clay pot, put a generous spoon of the sunflower seed puree
• Build the mushrooms, kale and broccoli around
• Pour over the sauce, then bake for 6-8 mins, until everything is bubbling hot
• Top with the poached eggs, pumpkin seeds and oil
• Serve immediately and grate the truffle at the table!
Recipe created by chef and mental health ambassador Andrew Clarke. He is also the co-founder of Pilot Light.