Charred Maitake and Aji Verde

This vibrant mushroom preparation is a crowd pleaser and can be served as a shared dish or even as an entree. Sweet, savory and smoky tare sauce blends with the bright, spicy and acidic aji verde. Sesame and nori adds a nice crunch to finish

Maitake Yakitori, Aji Verde & Sesame (serves 4 with extra sauce)

Ingredients

Grilled Maitake
Maitake - 2 each about 3/4 lb
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Sea Salt - to taste
Pepper -  to taste

Tare (soy glaze) (~2 cups)
Soy Sauce - 1 cup
Mirin - 1 cup
Sake - ½ cup
Brown Sugar - ½ cup
Sherry Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Scallions - 5 each
Ginger - 2 inches sliced thin

Method

• Place all ingredients into a pot and reduce until it is ‘nape’ or coats the back of a spoon, roughly in ½. 

Aji Verde (~2 cups)
Jalapeno - 40g
Aji Amarillo - 20g
Cilantro - 17g
Garlic - 7g
Lime Juice - 20g
Mayo - 100g
Salt - to taste 

Method

• Place all ingredients, except mayo in a blender and blend on high. Add mayo in and blend till it combines. Season to taste.

Sesame Garnish
Sesame Seeds and Nori. Chop the Nori and mix with sesame seeds and salt. You can add puffed grain of your choice too! 

To Finish

• Heat grill over high heat. Break maitake into pieces the size of a small handful. Season with olive oil and a little bit of salt and pepper.

• Grill the mushrooms until they have light brown color on each side. Then glaze them by brushing the mushroom with the tare sauce.

• Once the sauce begins to caramelize the mushroom is done.

• Add a dollop of Aji Verde to the plate and then place mushroom top. Sprinkle with sesame garnish.