Cogumelos à Bulhão Pato
Bulhão Pato is a nineteenth-century Lisbon way with clams, named for the poet who loved them: garlic, cilantro, a squeeze of lemon, and a little white wine, and nothing else. The same treatment turns a pound of cheap mushrooms into a petisco that tastes of the sea coast without any shellfish. The trick is to dry-sear the mushrooms hard so they brown in their own moisture instead of steaming in oil, then build the sauce off the heat so the garlic stays bright and raw-edged. Cilantro goes in by the handful, the way parsley never quite does in Portugal. Lemon and vinegar do the work that salt would, and the mushrooms keep every one of their juices.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 4 cloves Garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbsp White wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 whole Bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
Method
- Put the mushrooms in a wide dry pan over medium-high heat with the bay leaf and no liquid at all. They squeak and stick at first, then release their own water; let that water boil off so the mushrooms brown and concentrate rather than stewing pale and soft.
- When the pan is nearly dry and the mushrooms are glossy and browned, about 10 minutes, splash in 2 tablespoons (30 ml) water and scrape the browned film off the bottom back into the mushrooms. That film is where the roasted flavor lives, and the water lifts it without any oil.
- Pull the pan off the heat before the garlic goes in. Bulhão Pato garlic is barely cooked on purpose: the residual warmth takes the raw edge off without turning it sweet, so it stays sharp and green.
- Stir in the white wine vinegar, which stands in for the splash of white wine in the fisherman's original, then the lemon juice, cilantro, and black pepper. Toss until the herbs wilt and the juices, garlic, and acid pull together into a loose pan sauce.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with the pan juices spooned over, and discard the bay leaf. The acid and garlic carry the dish, so it needs no salt.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 70 calories, 5 g protein, 3 g fiber, 20 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
