Guppy By ai's Chef Vikram Khatri Creates Magic With Mushrooms For Dinner

Chef Vikram Khatri joined Sakura at the Metropolitan Hotel in 1999, where he worked for 7 years, learning the craft and nuances of Japanese cuisine from renowned Japanese chefs. In June 2007 he joined the Olive group, as part of the core opening team at ai. He has worked at the Ocean Room in Sydney, the finest modern Japanese restaurant in Australia. Chef Vikram is fiercely devoted to freshness, hygiene and technique. His offerings at Guppy are inspired by Japan, with bold striking flavours. Chef VK {as he’s known} and his talented young team have brought many awards and accolades to the restaurant, which include Best Japanese Restaurant, Best Sushi Chef, Top 100 Dishes of Delhi, and International Chef of the Year for two consecutive years, including one at the 7th International Chef’s Awards in 2010.

Here is his secret behind a perfect Mushroom Soup for LBB’s {The Recipe Project}

INGREDIENTS FOR STOCK

Button Mushroom – 200 gms Thyme – Few sprigs {Fresh or dried} Water – 1 ltr Salt – 1 tea spoon Butter – 10gm

METHOD FOR STOCK

Wash and clean button mushrooms. Slice mushrooms along with stalk. Heat a stock pan on low fire. Add sliced mushrooms, add butter to it and stir well so that butter gets mixed with the mushrooms. Do not cook mushrooms in butter; just mix them roughly. Add water to the sliced mushrooms. Increase the heat and bring water to boil. As water starts boiling, again lower the flame. If available, add shitake with the water in which it has soaked. Add thyme and salt. Let it simmer for around 90 minutes on very low heat. Check a few times; see that the water is not boiling, and it should not have reduced too much. If water has reduced too much, add some more. The final yield should be around 700 ml of soup stock. After the scheduled time, remove from heat and strain with a fine strainer. Let it cool and store in refrigerator till needed.

INGREDIENTS FOR FINAL PREPARATION

Sea salt – To taste Button mushrooms – 4-5 Chopped spring onion – 2-3 tablespoon

METHOD FOR FINAL PREPARATION

Wash and slice button mushrooms. Sauté in little oil or butter lightly in a pan. Pour the mushroom soup stock into a pan. Put it on to heat and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and add salt as per your taste. Arrange serving bowls, adding little bit of sautéed mushroom and spring onion. Pour hot soup into the bowl and serve immediately.

N.B. All recipes belong to the chef and are published with permission by Little Black Book. Reproduction of this recipe for print and circulation is not permitted.