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Sweet and Sour Vegetarian Abalone

A festive sweet and sour dish made with fresh shiitake mushrooms stuffed with seasoned shrimp paste, shaped to resemble vegetarian abalone. Pan-fried and coated in a glossy sweet-and-sour tomato sauce, it is rich, tangy, and delicious.

Jump to Recipe ↓Sweet and Sour Vegetarian Abalone

Dish type: Braised

Cuisine: Chinese

Estimated calories per recipe: 730

  • sour
  • sweet
  • savory
  • umami
  • contains_shellfish

Translated from a real Chinese home-kitchen recipe — never AI-invented.

Ingredients

  • 7 fresh shiitake mushrooms
  • 1 package seasoned shrimp paste
  • 2 tbsp perilla oil
  • 5 tbsp Heinz ketchup
  • 4 tbsp white vinegar
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp water

Steps

  1. 1

    Here are the main ingredients: Heinz ketchup, seasoned shrimp paste, and fresh shiitake mushrooms.

    Step 1
  2. 2

    Choose 7 shiitake mushrooms, wash them, and remove the stems. Place them cap-side up and get ready to cut a decorative pineapple-style pattern on the caps.

    Step 2
  3. 3

    Cut the decorative pattern on the mushroom caps, then score them. Be careful not to cut away too much, and do not cut all the way through, or the bottoms will break. Once cut, turn them over and pipe in the shrimp paste. (The author forgot to photograph this step: sprinkle a little starch on the underside of the mushrooms first, so the cooked shrimp paste will not separate from the mushrooms.)

    Step 3
  4. 4

    Make the sauce: the formula for this all-purpose sweet and sour ketchup sauce is 5-4-3-2-1: 5 spoonfuls of Heinz ketchup, 4 spoonfuls of white vinegar, 3 spoonfuls of sugar, and 2 spoonfuls of water—then 1 perfect sweet and sour sauce is ready.

    Step 4
  5. 5

    Heat the pan and add 2 spoonfuls of perilla oil. Add the vegetarian abalone to the pan, with the shrimp side down first, and pan-fry for 2 minutes. Flip and fry for another 2 minutes, then pour in the prepared sweet and sour sauce and reduce over high heat until thickened. Dish out and serve.

    Step 5
  6. 6

    Plate them nicely—come on, open up!

    Step 6
  7. 7

    The sauce is rich, sweet, and tangy—so delicious.

    Step 7

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