2021 is off to a very slow start… and I’m perfectly okay with that. I’m normally at one of two speeds: constantly working, trying to adhere to the fully programed google calendar I set for myself each week or full on blanket burrito mode. I’m working on trying to find a happy medium in there. I’m crawling out of the latter. Ever since we arrived back from our 6 week holiday leave I’ve been asleep more than I’ve been awake, spent most of the waking hours watching all of Bridgerton and Cobra Kai, ordered online groceries 3 times, and only cooked a fraction of the vegetables I had very good intentions of utilizing.

I still feel as if all the stress and anxiety of the last year is slowly leaving my body (even though there are still plenty of things to feel uneasy about) and I’m going through some weird, sleepy recovery mode. With each passing day, I’m somewhat more productive and the idea of answering an email doesn’t sting quite as much.

As I ease back into cooking in my kitchen, I knew right away I needed to start the year off with jook. I talk about the restorative powers and magic of jook all the time. It’s so easy, so comforting, and so customizable. I have a sweet potato jook and ginger chicken jook recipe that I go back to time and time again. All you need is rice, water, and a few things to flavor it with. The options are endless.

I’m very much into mushrooms right now, don’t ask me why. This Mushroom Jook utilizes dried shiitake mushrooms, which is a pantry staple for me, and topped with all the crunchy things - a must for any jook. This version of jook is vegetarian, could be vegan if you tried, and the coziest bowl to start off the new year.

Mushroom Broth with Dried Shiitakes

If you don’t keep dried shiitake mushrooms in your pantry, you need to start! They are packed with so much incredible flavor - a good thing if you’re a mushroom fan. Much like many other dried ingredients, the mushrooms need a good soaking in hot water to rehydrate them. Never throw away the soaking liquid! What you’ve essentially made, without even thinking about it, is a delicious mushroom broth. It should be dark brown, earthy, and fully of umami. It’s perfect for cooking rice or starting a soup base.

The soaked mushrooms will be plump and juicy. It has a delightful chewy texture that’s much different than if you were to cook fresh shiitake mushrooms.

Jook always needs crunchy things

The law of jook: you need a crunchy topping. The topping could be fried onions or shallots, youtiao, or in this case a blend of crispy garlic and fried mushrooms! It’s a necessity for textural balance.

I realize that the bowl looks like a big bowl of brown hues, but the flavors and textures are just so good! I don’t need to explain crispy garlic… it’s perfect. I reserve some of the rehydrated mushrooms for the topping. First you must wrap them in paper towels to remove some excess moisture. Then fry them up in the pan with oil (previously used to fry the garlic so you’re now infusing the mushrooms with garlic flavor) until golden brown and crisp. I found myself snacking on the mushrooms before my jook was done, so you might want to make extra.

I thankfully had a bag of frozen youtiao leftover from cookbook recipe testing, but you can easily find youtiao in the frozen section of your local asian market. Or pick some up in Chinatown if there’s one nearby.

freeze your rice for quicker jook

This is a new to me trick and I’m all about it! I typically make jook with regular dried rice, no freezing or pre-soaking involved. I actually enjoy the slowness and time it takes to stir and breakdown each grain of rice. But curiosity and the fact that I’m in blanket burrito mode got the best of me and I wanted to try out this rice freezing hack.

The intention of freezing washed and drained rice is to speed up the cooking process. When the rice is in the freezer, the residual water causes the grains of rice to burst and breakdown into small pieces. Small pieces allows the jook to cook and thicken in about half the amount of time (30 minutes as opposed to 1 hour). I find this process especially beneficial if you wanted to make a brown rice or partially brown rice jook. I love the flavor and toothsomeness of brown rice but it can take foreverrrrrrrr to cook.

This does require a little bit advance planning or you can always keep a container or bag of washed and frozen rice in the freezer!

Mushroom Jook with Lots of Crunchy Things

Serves 2 to 4

materials:

2 oz (about 15) dried shiitake mushrooms
4 cups boiling water
1 cup jasmine rice (or 1/2 cup jasmine and 1/2 cup long grain brown rice)
6 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chicken or vegetable bouillon
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
4 green onions, whites and greens chopped

toppings:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Chili oil, for serving
Nori strips, for serving
Pork floss, for serving

steps:

1. The night or a few hours before: rinse the rice, strain, and store in an airtight container (deli container or resealable bag works great). Freeze for 2 hours or overnight.

2. In a medium bowl, submerge mushrooms in boiling water. Place a small plate over the mushrooms to help weigh them down and soak until tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the water. Reserve soaking liquid for jook and slice the mushrooms into 1/4” slices. Reserve 1/2 cup of mushrooms for the crunchy topping (optional). Wrap the reserved mushrooms in paper towels to soak up extra moisture.

3. In a medium to large pot, combine soaking liquid, additional water, salt, and chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil. Add frozen rice and stir. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer. Continue to simmer and stir every few minutes (to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot). After 20 minutes, add sliced mushrooms, oyster sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, and green onions. Continue to simmer, while stirring every few minutes until the jook is thick and creamy, another 15 to 20 minutes. Add more water if needed for a looser consistency.

4. While the jook is simmering, fry the garlic and mushrooms: Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add a slice of garlic to the oil and if you hear a gentle sizzle, the oil is hot enough. Add the remaining garlic and fry until crisp and golden brown, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Keep a close eye on the garlic because it can easily burn. Remove the garlic from the oil and place on a plate lined with paper towels. In the same oil, add the reserved mushroom slices and fry until crisp and golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and place on the paper towel lined plate.

5. To serve, fill bowls with mushroom jook and top with fried garlic, fried mushrooms, chili oil, nori, pork floss, and chopped green onions.

storage and reheating notes: store jook in an airtight container for up to 4 days. As jook cools the texture thickens, so reheat in the microwave (2 to 3 minutes) or in a pot on the stove top until warmed through with a little extra water to get the consistency you like.