Ingredients
| CONSOMMÉ | |
| 5 tablespoons oil | |
| 2 red onions, thinly sliced | |
| 2 sticks celery, thinly sliced | |
| 20 cloves garlic, thinly sliced | |
| 1kg button mushrooms, thinly sliced, plus extra to serve | |
| 2 pinches salt | |
| 100g butter (or replace with 30ml oil if vegan) | |
| 60ml black rice vinegar | |
| 50ml mushroom soy | |
| 40ml kecap manis sweet soy | |
| 150ml white wine | |
| 2½ litres vegetable stock | |
| 2 sticks kombu | |
| 30g Marmite | |
| MEATBALLS | |
| 100g Puy lentils | |
| 3 tablespoons ground flaxseeds | |
| 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs | |
| 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast | |
| 120g mushroom mix (from making the consommé) | |
| 50g flat-leafed parsley, chopped, plus extra leaves to serve | |
| sesame oil, to taste | |
| sesame seeds, to serve |
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Instructions
| 1. | CONSOMMÉ |
| 2. | Heat the oil in a large 4-5 litre stock pot over a high heat, then sauté the onion and celery for 2-4 minutes. |
| 3. | Add the garlic and mushrooms to the pot with the salt. |
| 4. | Keep stirring every 2 minutes until the pan starts to become dry. |
| 5. | Add the butter or oil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the mushroom base until well toasted – this can take up to 20 minutes depending on the heat – remembering to stir and scrape the base of the pan every couple of minutes. |
| 6. | You want the mushroom base to be a dark roasted colour as if you were browning meat for braising. There should be no liquid left in the pan. |
| 7. | Increase the heat back to hot, add the black rice vinegar and cook until dry. |
| 8. | Add the mushroom soy and cook until dry. |
| 9. | Then add the sweet soy and the white wine and cook until dry. |
| 10. | Remove 120g of mix and set aside for the meatballs. |
| 11. | Add the vegetable stock and kombu sticks and reduce the heat to low. |
| 12. | Cook for 30-45 minutes. Remove the kombu and set aside, then pass the stock through a fine sieve, making sure to press every drop from the base. |
| 13. | Season the stock with Marmite (just a little at a time) and salt. Keep warm. |
| 14. | MEATBALLS |
| 15. | Put the lentils in a pan with 500ml of water, but no salt. |
| 16. | Simmer until al dente, about 15-20 minutes. |
| 17. | While they cook, put the ground flaxseeds in a bowl with 4 tablespoons water, mix to make a paste and leave for 5 minutes to thicken. |
| 18. | Add the breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, reserved mushroom mix and chopped parsley and mix together. |
| 19. | Heat the oven to 160°C. |
| 20. | Once the lentils are cooked, drain and put in a food processor with the mushroom mixture. |
| 21. | Blend until it comes together (about 30-60 seconds) and season with salt if needed. |
| 22. | Roll into 20g balls and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes to seal. |
| 23. | Cut the kombu into strips or dice. Season with sesame oil and salt to taste. |
| 24. | Place the meatballs into bowls with the kombu, some sesame seeds, finely sliced raw mushrooms and scatter with parsley. |
| 25. | Add the stock. Serve with some crunchy flatbread. |
Recipes & food styling Ian Harrison / Photography Tony Nyberg