Wild Garlic and King Mushroom Stir fried

A few year ago, my family and I went for a hike and accidentally found a large patch of wild garlic. Although I call them wild garlic, they are not the type of wild garlic that with a single glossy board leaf. But they smell and taste just exactly like garlic. It was the distinct smell that had me found them back then. I believe the ones I discovered are actually domestic garlic. But somehow they grow and spread in the wild. So now, we come to pick these delicious wild garlic as our annual spring activity.

Treating these wild garlic as garlic shoots you can purchase at supermarket, you can stir fry and make soup with them.

INGREDIENTS:

2 handfuls Wild Garlic

4 King Mushrooms

1 teaspoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Rice Wine

3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

DIRECTION:

1. Cut the wild garlic into about 4 cm long; cut king mushrooms into small chunks.

2. Heat up oil over high heat. Add mushrooms and stir fry for 3 minutes.

3. Add wild garlic. Stir fry for about a minute.  Drizzle over the cooking wine. Add salt and sugar. Stir well. Turn off the heat.

Wild Dandelion Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing 蒲公英沙律

Dandelion is coming back. While many people may not like to see these popping yellow flowers, my husband and I are very happy to welcome them back with open arms. We miss the flavour. The mildly bitter leaves with the sweet balsamic vinaigrette. And the bright yellow flower petals that are so delicious in cookies. We just never have enough of dandelion.

INGREDIENTS:

1-2 cups Dandelion Leaves

3 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 tablespoon Honey

DIRECTION:

1. Rinse the dandelion; drain well.

2. Whisk together balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and honey. Add dandelion leaves; gently mix together. Serve immediately.

Scrambled Egg with Fiddle Head and Spring Wild Green

Spring finally comes. We can finally forage the delicate greens and add them into our diet. This week, we found fiddle heads, curly dock, and trout lily. Fiddle head is sweet, curly dock is slightly sour, and trout lily is green. I put them all into this scrambled egg and make it into a big breakfast for the family.

Curly dock

The left side is fiddle heads, and the right side is trout lily.

INGREDIENTS:

Wild Edible Spring Green (Fiddle head, trout lily, and curly dock)

6 Eggs

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Sugar

3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

DIRECTION:

1. Whisk the eggs, salt and sugar together.

2. Bring a small pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add fiddle heads. Blanch them for about 5 minutes to get rid of the bitter taste. Drain well.

3. Heat up the oil over high heat. Add the wild greens and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add the egg. Keep stir frying until the egg coagulates. Turn off the heat.

Spring greens army son's flavourite.

Stir fried Fiddle Head in Butter Sauce

It is spring. It means the fiddle head are coming out. On one of the hike, we found an area where full of fiddle heads. We keep the place as our secret to protect the resource. When picking fiddle heads, look for the ones still close tightly. And you will never want to pick out the whole plant or the clean out the whole area, if you want to come back for the same spot every year.

Fiddle head is tender and sweet. It is the beast wild green I'd ever tasted, and it is still on the top of the favourite wild edible list among my family. Cooking fiddle head doesn't need to be complicated. Instead, the simplest, the better. However, blenching it prior is essential for getting rid of the bitter taste.

Hope you enjoy this spring recipe.

Look for the fiddle heads are still closing tightly. As they open up, they become poisonous and are no longer safe for eating. 

INGREDIENTS:

1-2 handfuls Fiddle Heads

2 tablespoons Butter

Salt to taste

DIRECTION:

1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add fiddle heads. Boil them for about 5 minutes. Drain well.

2. Heat up the butter. Add blenched fiddle heads. Fry until they are wilted; about 5 minutes. Season with salt to taste.