Mushroom adobo

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
4 tbsps oil
300g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
300g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
20 grinds of fresh black pepper
320g basmati rice
1 tsp salt
1 red onion, finely diced
6 garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped
3 tbsps soy sauce
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
3 tbsps rice vinegar
1 tbsp porcini paste
1 tbsp sugar
4 eggs
10g butter
80g watercress
Chilli sauce

Method
Heat a wok on high with 1 tbsp of the oil and add the shitake mushrooms.  Don’t stir for the first couple of minutes, you need a little crust to build up.  Stir and repeat.  Repeat until all of the juice that is released from the mushrooms has gone.  Give a really good grind of black pepper as the mushrooms cook.  Repeat with the chestnut mushrooms. Expect this step to take at least 20 minutes.  Remove from the wok and put to one side.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add the salt. Once on a rolling boil, add the basmati, stir and lower to heat to a medium high heat and cook for 10-12 minutes until just cooked. 

Heat up another tbsp of oil over a medium heat and fry the onion for 5-7 minutes until soft and translucent but without any colour.  Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute, stirring as you go.  Add the soy sauce, vinegar, porcini paste and sugar, and simmer gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes to thicken and reduce a little. 

Drain off the water from the rice, put the rice back into the pan, cover with a tea towel and leave for 3 minutes. 

Return the mushrooms to the wok and simmer for another 2 minutes. Check the seasoning and adjust if needed, you might want to add a little more pepper.

Meanwhile, in a small frying pan put 1 tbsp oil and 1 tsp butter in the middle of the pan.

If you want your eggs to look perfect then crack the egg into a fine mesh sieve or tea strainer first to strain out some of the thinner whites that make your eggs look ragged and scruffy.  Don't think all of your white will fall through because oddly it does not, just the thin watery white seems to. 

Carefully place your eggs in the pan with the oil and put on a medium heat.   Cook for 3-4 minutes, just jiggling your pan from time to time to encourage the eggs not to stick. 

After the 3 mins, take a fork and fluff up.

Put the rice, mushrooms and watercress into a bowl.  If you imagine a clock, the rice will be from 12-4. the watercress 4-8, the mushrooms 8-12.

When your egg white is set take some of the buttery oil in a spoon and pour over the top of the egg yolks so that any white just sets but your yolk remains soft.  When you dish your eggs be careful, using a fish slice very very carefully run around the edge and underneath as you do not want to break the yolks.  If you like your yolks more set then very carefully flip them over and cook for a further minute.  Put the egg in the middle, put the chilli oil over the egg and serve straight away.