Braised Mushroom Meat Sauce

Weather is getting cold now and the days seem to be shorter, dark and dreary. Today is another cold and rainy day here in PA and it makes me crave for some comfort food. What can be more comforting than a bowl of meaty noodles? When I first saw this interesting recipe at Kokken 69 back in August I was intrigued by it and bookmarked it right away. Since I have all the ingredients in my fridge I cook this for our lunch. Just like Shirley said this sauce is meaty, flavorful and versatile. You may used the sauce on your steamed rice, noodles, blanched vegetables, porridge, etc. This is my quick version of the meat sauce but for the original recipe and version please refer here .

Ingredients:

300 gram ground pork (you can replace it with ground chicken, beef or turkey)
3 pcs dried shitake mushroom – soak until soft and cut into small cubes
3 shallots – sliced thinly
100 -150 ml chicken stock (depend on how saucy you like)

Marinate for meat

1 tbsp soy sauce
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch

Seasoning

1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 ½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp 5 spice powder
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

1. Season the ground meat and set it aside. Heat up the wok with a bit of oil and fry the sliced shallots until lightly brown and crispy. Remove and drain the oil.
2. In the same wok and oil, stir fry the mushroom until fragrant. Add in the marinated ground meat; stir fry until the meat changes color. Add in all the seasonings. Adjust the seasonings according to your liking.
3. Add chicken stock and let it simmer on low heat for 15 min. Add crispy fried shallots. Continue to cook another 10 minutes or until the gravy thickens. Check seasonings.  Remove and serve with rice or noodles.