Batter-fried Dryad's Saddle

Ingredients:

240ml flour
3 tbsp cold water
1 egg, beaten
a few tbsp white wine vinegar (or cider)
1 egg white
1 tbsp melted butter
1 pinch salt
1 pinch sugar
150g Dryad's saddle mushroom, thinly sliced
oil (or lard) for deep frying

Method:

This recipe is based on one taken from a cookbook originally published in 1709. There, sage leaves were used, but the recipe works equally well for dryad's saddle mushroom and this is one of the best methods I've discovered for preparing the fungus.

You need to pick the fungus when it's very young (in May) and use only the tenderest parts (the outside of fungus and the parts furthest away from the stalk). Clean the mushroom, trim away the bits you are going to use from the main body then take a very sharp knife and slice as thinly as possible — the thinner you make the slices, the better.

Take the flour and mix with the cold water into a thick batter that must be smooth. Then mix in the beaten egg and stir well; pour in a little vinegar yet not too much (add about 3 tbsp to start). Beat the egg white into soft peaks and fold into the batter. Finally, add the butter as well as a small pinch of salt and sugar and stir the batter once more.

Wash and dry off the Dryad's saddle slices then dredge them in the batter, and fry them on both sides in hot oil (or lard) until crispy.