Gucchi Ramen

A Base Broth from Kashmir’s Wild Morel

There is a small box of dried gucchi in my fridge. It came home with me after a dinner last year, handed over by the chef at the end of the night, and I have been rationing it ever since.

Where the Box Came From

Last year I curated a Kashmiri dinner at Durbar, Godawan’s concept in Rajasthan, and Jasleen Marwah cooked it. Jasleen is a Kashmiri chef, and her menu included gucchi pulao, a dish I have eaten several times and still order without thinking twice about it (it is a rare treat). What I like about it is how unique it is. The mushroom is earthy and a little punchy, and the umami works it way in quite strongly. The dinner went well, and at the end of it she gave me a small box of dried gucchi.

My first gucchi was in Kashmir, at a Kashmiri dinner in a five-star hotel, years ago. It was part of a larger spread and I remember it as a detail rather than the point. It is the same valley that gave me the walnut chutney in the Doon Chetin post, and it has a habit of producing ingredients like this: specific, seasonal, and better understood once you have eaten them there.

Why a Broth, and Not a Pulao

Gucchi is foraged from Himalayan forests and has a short season, which is why it reaches most kitchens dried. The retail prices I found run from about ₹15,000 to ₹40,000 a kilo, depending on grade. Dried, it keeps for a long time in a closed airtight container, and I keep mine in the fridge.

A pulao uses a generous handful in one sitting. A broth uses three to five pieces and flavours a pot for about three people. That arithmetic is why I now think the broth is the sensible way to spend an ingredient this scarce. I have stuffed gucchi, chopped them into mushroom dishes and pasta sauces, and blended them into soups. The broth is the one I keep returning to.

What the Soaking Water Does and Why it Works?

The water turns brown within minutes and settles into a deep amber, close to strong tea. It smells of wet earth, more petrichor than mushroom. Taste it on its own and it is earth and umami with very little else going on. It is not a broth yet. Then the miso, peanut butter and soy go in, and the flavour arrives all at once. That jump made me ask why.

Umami has three main sources: glutamate, and two nucleotides called inosinate and guanylate. Glutamate is plentiful in fermented foods, because fermentation breaks proteins down into free glutamate. Miso and soy sauce are the obvious examples. Guanylate is found mainly in mushrooms, and it was first identified as an umami compound in dried shiitake.

The interesting part is what happens when the two meet. Glutamate and the nucleotides amplify each other, and the combined effect is many times what either produces alone, with a longer-lasting finish. Researchers think the nucleotides act on the umami receptor on the tongue and strengthen the glutamate signal. It is the same principle behind Japanese shojin dashi, where kombu supplies the glutamate and dried shiitake supplies the guanylate.

Apply that to this bowl. The gucchi supplies guanylate and the smell of wet earth. The miso and soy supply fermented glutamate. Each is quiet alone, and together the broth tastes louder than its ingredient list suggests. That is my reading of why the broth lands the way it does. The science supports the principle; I have not measured anything in my own pot.

One footnote that argues against the expensive ingredient. In the one table I found that lists both, dried morel carries about 40 mg of guanylate per 100 g, against about 150 mg for dried shiitake. On paper, shiitake is the stronger umami contributor. What gucchi adds is the aroma of wet earth, which a substitute cannot supply. It is also why I am comfortable telling you to use shiitake.

Sources: Kenzo Kurihara’s 2015 review of umami research (PubMed Central); Food Technology Magazine (IFT); Flavour journal on the umami receptor.

If You Cannot Find Gucchi

Use dried shiitake and soak it exactly the same way: two hours at minimum, longer for a deeper broth. Fresh shiitake are easier to find now and are worth slicing into the bowl for texture. Use whichever of these you can get and you will not be missing much.

Gucchi Base Broth, Served as Ramen

Serves about 3. A base broth, so it also works for pho or anything noodle-shaped. Adjust every seasoning to taste.

Ingredients

For the broth:

– 3–5 dried gucchi (Kashmiri morel), or dried shiitake

– 500-600 ml Water for soaking

– 1 tsp Oil for sauteing

– ½ head spring onion, sliced

– ½–1 red Asian chilli or green chilli, to your heat preference

– 4–5 garlic cloves, minced

– 1 tbsp miso paste

– 1 tbsp peanut butter

– 2 tsp light soy sauce

– 1 tsp brown sugar or jaggery, if your peanut butter is unsweetened

– 1 tsp rice wine vinegar

For the bowl:

– Tofu, crisped with panko or cornflour

– Pak choi, blanched

– Eggs, cooked as you like (optional)

– Ramen noodles

– Spring onion greens and toasted sesame, to garnish

Method

1.  Soak the gucchi in water to make your dashi: at least 2 hours, longer for a more intense flavour.

2.  Saute the spring onion, chilli and garlic in a little oil. Cook them through but do not let them brown.

3.  Add the miso and peanut butter with a small amount of the gucchi dashi and work it into a thin paste. Cook for a bit, then add more of the dashi.

4.  Add the soy, jaggery and rice wine vinegar. Stir, bring to a boil, and adjust to taste.

5.  Slice the soaked gucchi and return it to the broth.

6.  Crisp the tofu in panko or cornflour, whichever you prefer.

7.  Blanch the pak choi.

8.  Cook the eggs, if you want them.

9.  Cook the ramen noodles.

10.  Assemble the bowls and garnish with spring onion greens and toasted sesame.

Notes

On the soak: The longer the soak, the deeper the broth. Two hours is the floor.

On quantities: Three to five gucchi flavour a pot for about three people. This is the point of the recipe.

On seasoning: Heat, sweetness and tang are all adjustable. The jaggery is only there to balance an unsweetened peanut butter.

On storage: Keep dried gucchi in a closed airtight container. I keep mine in the fridge.

The box in my fridge is a little lighter than it was. At three to five pieces a pot, it will last longer than the pulao would have.