Porcini Risotto

A couple of weeks a go I visited a much-hyped restaurant in Hangzhou called Osteria Pelecanus. This tiny restaurant serves Italian-influenced dishes created by the chef and receives almost all 5-star ratings on Dazhongdianping (a Chinese version of Yelp, Tripadvisor, Opentable etc.). People would wait for hours to get a seat there.

To be honest, the dishes are just mediocre to me. The only dish that impressed me was their signature dish, porcini risotto. I mean, with ingredients such as porcini, chicken broth, how can a risotto dish not be tasty?

I knew I could make this dish myself. So I came up with this easy-to-make recipe of porcini risotto. I assure you this is just as delicious as the ones you can find in Italian restaurants. 

Ingredients (serves 1):

• 1/2 tsb butter
• 45-50g risotto rice
• 7-9g dried porcini mushrooms
• 80g cremini mushrooms
• a pinch of minced garlic
• 1tbs white wine
• 500-700ml unsalted chicken broth*
• 1tbs grated parmesan cheese + more to garnish
• parsley (dried or fresh) to taste
• salt to taste
• black truffle paste optional

*adjust amount of chicken broth according to how well the rice absorbs water and personal peference

Instructions:

1. Soak dried porcini mushrooms with warm water until soft. Tear mushrooms into small pieces. Save the soaking water for later.
2. Heat a large pan, melt the butter. Add more butter if desire.
3. Add sliced mushrooms, drained porcini and minced garlic. Saute for several minutes.
4. Add risotto rice when the mushrooms shrink and saute for a minute.
5. Add white wine and saute until liquid is completely absorbed by the rice.
6. Add mushroom soaking water and about 1/4 of the unsalted chicken broth. Bring to boil, then switch to medium heat. Simmer and stir.
7. Add more chicken broth when the liquid is almost completely absorbed by the rice. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the risotto reaches ideal texture. I prefer the rice to be softer, the whole simmering process takes about 40 min.
8. Remove from heat when the risotto is cooked. Add grated Parmesan cheese and parsley. Stir well. Add more salt if it’s not salty enough.
9. Add a pinch of black truffle paste if desire. It’s gonna be heavenly!

Homemade just can’t be beat.

Enjoy!