Salt and Pepper Fried Shiitake / Stir-Fried Squid with Green Peppers

Salt and Pepper Fried Shiitake — I made this once before and it basically failed.

Simple reason: the batter I mixed was way too thin. This time I learned my lesson.

1. Soak the shiitake until they open up, snip off the stems with scissors, then slice them — cut on a diagonal so there’s more surface area.
2. Mix the batter: flour + one egg + cornstarch + five-spice powder + white pepper, then add a tiny bit of water to start mixing.
3. Always start with just a little water, or it’ll turn runny. You want it at the consistency of batter — fairly thick, but not like dough you’d knead.
4. Dump the shiitake into the batter and stir until every piece is coated.
5. Heat oil in the pan over medium-low heat — use a decent amount — and fry them one by one. When they’re done, sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over the top and you’re set.

So the key is really not making the batter too thin, and you can fry more at a time — the slower you go, the more the first batch goes cold by the end.

Next up, stir-fried squid with green peppers. This one’s much easier.

1. Chop the scallion, ginger, and garlic — doesn’t need to be too fine.
2. Cut the green peppers into strips or chunks, whatever you like. Mine were squid rings, so no prep needed. If you’ve got whole squid, you’ll have to slice it and blanch it first.
3. On low heat, put the ginger and garlic in the pan first, then add a bit of chili sauce or doubanjiang and fry until fragrant.
4. Add the squid, turn up to medium heat, and stir-fry. When it’s mostly done, splash in some soy sauce for color — add a bit of salt if it’s not salty enough.
5. Finally toss in the green peppers, stir a little longer, and it’s ready to plate.

That said, I think I went a little heavy on the soy sauce this time.