Ingredients
- 1 1/2 kilograms fresh shiitake mushrooms
- 180 millilitres soy sauce
- 6 teaspoons garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 to 2 teaspoons chilli flakes
Instructions
- Wipe the shiitakes clean with a damp cloth rather than washing them; they soak up water, and every drop of it is water the dehydrator has to take back out. Trim off the woody ends of the stems and slice the mushrooms.
- Toss the sliced mushrooms with the soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar and chilli in a large bowl, and leave them to marinate for 30 minutes, turning them once or twice.
- Blend the mushrooms and every bit of the marinade to a completely smooth purée. Any piece left whole stays soft when the rest of the sheet is dry, so keep blending until there is no texture left.
- Line the trays with solid sheets: fruit-leather inserts or silicone mats. Spread the purée 3 mm thick and as evenly as you can, leaving a finger-width margin at the edge so the edges do not dry out before the middle.
- Dry at 55 °C for 6 hours. Rotate the trays halfway through so they dry evenly.
- It is done when the surface has no tack anywhere and the sheet peels off the liner in one piece. It should stay leathery and bend without cracking, like jerky, rather than snap.
- Peel the sheet off the liner and cut it into strips with a sharp knife or scissors.
- Let the strips cool completely, then store them in an airtight jar in a cool, dry place.
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