I needed a side to go with a tomato heavy pasta dish (spaghetti all’assassina), and I happen to live next to a store that stocks trumpet mushrooms.

This is seared trumpet mushrooms, baby bak choi, teriyaki sauce, and a foam of roasted garlic, parmesan, and cardamom.

Teriyaki sauce: Add to sauce pan1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 clove garlic minced. Combine 2 tbsp/30 ml mirin with 1/2 tsp cornstarch. Mix until smooth and add to sauce pan. Bring to simmer and simmer 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Note: if you use a decent soy sauce your teriyaki will taste much better.

Foam: roast head of garlic. grate 200 g parmesan cheese. heat 250 ml/1 C whole milk until gently simmering. Stir in 4-5 heads of roasted garlic after smashing. Add parmesan and 4-5 cardamom pods. Heat until parmesan is melted, then remove from heat and let set 20 min. strain liquid out. Add ~60 ml to about 120 ml heavy cream. Strain, and add to a whip. Charge whip with two canisters of gas, and let rest in the refrigerator until fully chilled, 3 to 4 hours.

Bak Choi: thinly slice bulb and leaves.

Trumpet mushrooms: trim base, make a series of shallow scores and then another series at right angle to the first. Because the tops tend to be really fragile, start scoring at the stalk. Put in a bowl and toss with a couple tablespoons of a white vinegar, and let mushrooms absorb vinegar for about 15 minutes. On a very hot pan, melt 2 tbsp/30 ml butter and add mushrooms when butter starts browning, scored side down. You can use a torch to make the scoring stand out more and char the face of the mushrooms a bit.