Recipe: Truffle Omurice

What can you do with 100g black truffle?

100克的黑松露能用來做什麼？

With the truffle bought in Canberra Fyshwick Market after the truffle hunt and another truffle bought from Tamar Valley Tasmania, I have managed to create quite a number of dishes from a total of 100g of Truffle.  Pan fried scallops with truffles, twice; Steak with black truffle vinaigrette, once; truffled scramble eggs, four times; risotto with creamy leeks, dried porcini and truffles, once; Neil Perry’s recipe of soft poached egg on truffle toast with truffle sauce, once; different versions of truffle pasta, four times in total; Pierre Hermé’s recipe of black truffle sponge cake, once; truffle for infusing ‘Saint’ cheese from Bruny Island Cheese Co., once; Chinese style congee with truffle, once; truffle sushi, once ; truffle omurice (fried rice wrapped in an omelette), once. So I think it’s pretty good value to have truffle dishes at home rather than paying a fortune for a few thin slices in restaurants.

用松露捜尋活動後在坎培拉Fyshwick市場買的一顆松露和另一顆來自塔斯馬尼亞的Tamar Valley的松露，這共100克的松露其實能做出頗多的菜餚。香煎松露帶子，兩次；牛柳配松露油醋汁，一次；松露炒蛋，四次；松露牛肝菌韭蔥燴飯，一次；澳洲大廚Neil Perry的松露水波蛋吐司配松露醬，一次；各款松露意粉，共四次；法國甜點大師Pierre Hermé的黑松露蛋糕，一次；用作夾於Bruny Island Cheese Co.的‘Saint’軟芝士中間的松露，一次；中式粥配松露，一次；松露壽司，一次；松露蛋包飯，一次。所以其實在家中做松露料理，比起在餐館中用頗高的價格換來數片薄薄的松露來得化算。

And my favourite truffle dish out of all these turned out to be…..the truffle omurice! Perhaps I am a bit biased since this was my own recipe and I was proud of it lol. Talking about the inspiration for this dish, I was watching the Korean dram ‘Rooftop Prince’ again with mum and when I saw them having omurice, I thought to myself ‘hey, eggs and truffle get along so well, why don’t I make a truffle omurice?’

而這當中我最喜歡的松露菜式，就是.....松露蛋包飯！我承認我是有點偏心，因為這是我頗自豪的自創食譜　（哈哈太不要臉了吧....）。話說這蛋包飯的靈感出現在我陪媽媽重看韓劇〈屋塔房王世子〉時，看到他們的蛋包飯，我想‘既然蛋和松露那麼配，為什麼不試試做松露蛋包飯？’

The inspiring scene in ‘Rooftop Prince’!

松露蛋包飯的靈感就是來自〈屋塔房王世子〉中的這一幕！

And here comes my truffle omurice!

松露蛋包飯出場！

With the extra fried rice which could not be wrapped into the omelette, I have made some sushi!

還有用多出的炒飯做的壽司！

Truffle Omurice (2 servings)

Prepared ahead-

Truffled Egg: Store eggs in an airtight glass container with the truffle and kept in the fridge for at least 24 hrs

Truffled Rice: Store eggs in an airtight glass container with the truffle and kept in the fridge for at least 24 hrs

Truffled butter: Gently melt 250g unsalted butter over a pot of simmering water; remove melted butter from heat and add 15 g finely grated black truffle and salt to flavour. Mix well and keep stirring as it cools. Set in the fridge. Use immediately or wrap well to store in the freezer.

Fried rice

Truffled Rice     1.5 Cup

Fresh scallops (chopped)    6-8 pieces

Asparagus (chopped)     4 sticks

Flying fish roe   1.5 Tbs

Truffle Sauce

Pouring cream   2 Tbs

Truffled butter   1 Tbs

Egg Yolk 1

Omelette

Truffled Eggs (whisked)    4

1. Cook rice in an electrical rice cooker
2. Make truffle sauce: heat butter and cream in a small pan on medium heat until butter is melted; slowly stir the egg yolk in; season with salt and pepper; reheat before use
3. When the rice is ready, coat a pan with olive oil
4. Add cooked rice, asparagus to  the pan and fry for a while before adding the scallops to keep the scallops just done; then add in flying fish roe and turn off the heat; stir to mix well　and set aside for later use
5. Use half of the whisked eggs for 1 egg sheet: coat a hot pan with olive oil and pour the whisked egg in and cook on high heat
6. When the egg sheet is almost set, scoop some rice on and fold in half
7. Transfer the omelette onto a plate and pour some truffle sauce on; serve with extra truffle shaves
8. Enjoy your truffle omurice!
   

    松露蛋包飯（2人份）

     提前準備 -

     松露蛋：把雞蛋與松露放在密封的玻璃容器內在冰箱中保存至少24小時

     松露米：把米和松露放在密封的玻璃容器內在冰箱中保存至少24小時

     松露牛油：隔水融化250克的牛油，離火後加入15克碎黑松露和適量的鹽來調味。拌勻，並在冷卻期間不斷攪拌。立即使用或包裝好存放在冰箱內。

     炒飯

     松露米1.5杯

     新鮮帶子（切碎）6-8粒

     鮮蘆筍（切碎）4棵

     飛魚籽1.5湯匙

     松露醬

     鮮奶油2湯匙

     松露奶油1湯匙

     蛋黃1個

     煎蛋皮

     松露蛋（已打發）

1． 先用電飯煲把米飯煮熟

2． 松露醬：在小鍋內加熱牛油和鮮奶油直到牛油融化；離火後慢慢拌入蛋黃，加入鹽和黑胡椒調味；使用前翻熱

3． 米飯煮熟後，在鍋中倒入適量煮食用橄欖油

4． 先加入飯和鮮蘆筍炒一會兒，再加入帶子快炒至帶子剛熟；加入飛魚籽後關火，拌勻備用

5． 用一半已打發的雞蛋做一塊蛋皮：用煮食用橄欖油熱鍋，倒入蛋液大火加熱

6． 蛋液差不多凝固時，放上適量炒飯後折疊一半

7． 把蛋包飯放到盤子上，淋上松露醬；再加上黑松露薄片

8． 盡情享受你的松露蛋包飯吧！

Canberra: Truffle Hunt

Snuffle the truffle hunter  松露搜索犬

The unique earthy and sweet aroma of French black truffle (aka. Perigold truffle) has always been a culinary magical spell which can turn a simple dish into a real amazement. The need to use pig to locate these root fungi has added another layer of wonder and the whole truffle growth and found process sounded just as mysterious as its never-accurately-described aroma. So when I came across truffle hunt as part of the Canberra Truffle Festival, I can’t wait to secure my place in one of these hunts (Australia has its truffle season in late June to August, as opposed to November to February in the northern hemisphere). Despite the weather forecast on iphone indicated a gloomy Saturday, we actually had a very nice day which made the truffle hunt even more enjoyable.

擁有獨特香氣的黑松露一直是美食的魔法,能夠點石成金。在歐洲使用母豬來找尋這些生長在植物根部的真菌的傳統更令黑松露更添一份神秘感。所以坎培拉松露節的松露搜尋項目立刻吸引了我(澳洲的松露收成期為六月尾至八月，與北半球的十一月至翌年二月相反)。當日風和日麗令整個活動更加寫意，非常享受。

The scenery at the truffle farm was like a painting.

松露園內如油畫般的景致。

We gathered at the French Black Truffles of Canberra on Mt Majura Road at 10am and began with an introductory talk about truffles, the truffiere and the truffle dogs. Sherry, the owner of the truffiere has always been an urban person and never thought about setting up a farm until 2004, when her husband, Gavan, was diagnosed with Parkinson disease and decided to go for his dream: setting up his own farm. Sherry was not that supportive at the beginning and requested to have the farm as close to the city, the university and the hospital as possible and thought that Gavan would never find such a place. Yet Gavan took the challenge and found the current site which was only about 20 mins from the city centre. Sherry therefore kept her promise and they started the farm together. The land has been used for sheep grazing for many years and Sherry and Gavan were not sure what to do with the land for some time. One day, Sherry came across an ingredient called ‘truffle’ in a cook book and dashed to the market to ask about this interesting ingredient. However, she was told that it could only be found in Europe. Sherry then went on with some research and believed that their land was actually suitable for truffle growth: being dry and nutrient-depleted and with cold winter temperature plus hot summer temperature. So they visited a few farms in Tasmania and decided to give it a go. The first tree was planted in 2004 and in 2007, Sherry and Gavan got their first truffle. There are now 2500 trees (English Oak, French Evergreen and Hazelnut trees) on the site and productivity has been doubling up every year.　

週六上午10時，我們來到位於坎培拉Mt.Majura道的法國黑松露園。由園主Sherry開始對松露，松露園的成立和松露搜索犬進行介紹。Sherry一直以城市人自居，從未想到要成為農場的主人；直到2004年，她的丈夫Gavan被診斷出患有帕金遜病，因此決定要即時實踐自己的夢想 ---設立一個農場。Sherry開始時並沒有很支持，因此對農莊的地理位置開出了苛刻的要求： 要鄰近市中心，大學和醫院。她以為Gavan永遠不會找到這樣的一塊土地。然而，皇天不負有心人Gavan成功找到了離市中心僅約20分鐘車程的這片土地。Sherry亦保守了她的諾言，全力協助Gavan建立他夢想中的農場。這片土地多年來一直作牧羊用，因此Sherry與Gavan開始時並不知道該在土地上種植什麼。終於有一天，Sherry在烹飪書中首次看到了〝松露〞這材料。她到市場詢問有關松露的事，卻被告知松露只能生長在歐洲，別妄想在澳洲找到新鮮的。Sherry跟着搜索了很多松露的資料，發現他們的土地實際上是非常適合松露生長的：乾燥和貧脊的土壌加上寒冷的冬季和炎熱的夏季。跟着，他們參觀了在塔斯馬尼亞的幾個松露園，並決定開始松露的培植。Sherry和Gavan在2004年種植了第一棵樹苖並在2007年發現了他們的第一顆松露。現在Sherry和Gavan的松露園植有2500棵樹木（英國橡樹，法國長青樹和榛子樹），生產力每年遞增。

Despite having learnt the life cycle of fungus in high school, I have never put it into the context of truffle. And I only realised after Sherry’s talk that truffles are actually by-products of the stress that the host tree has undergone to a certain extent. Black winter truffles, or Melanosporum Vitt to be more scientific, aid the host tree to absorb minerals and nutrients through their filaments. In return, they obtain sugars and other carbohydrates which they cannot synthesise from the tree, forming the so-called ‘symbiotic relationship’.  Truffles are also very fussy with the pH of the soil; they grow well in alkaline soil (i.e. pH>7). When Sherry and Gavan first got their land, the pH was far below 7 and they added 80 tonnes of limestone per hectare to get to the right pH. And that was the most work done to the land ever since.　

儘管在中學時有學過真菌的生命週期，我從來沒有把松露由此角度來思考。我現在才意識到松露在某程度上其實是樹木在逆境中受壓時的副產品。松露通過他們的細絲幫助主樹吸收礦物質和營養素；作為回報，它們由樹上獲得自己不能合成的糖和其他碳水化合物，形成所謂的“共生關係”。松露對土壤的pH值也很敏感，喜歡生長在鹼性土壤（即pH值> 7）。Sherry與Gavan的這片土地最初的pH值遠低於7；為了調整合適的pH值，他們在每公頃的地添加了80噸石灰。這亦是他們暫時為土壤花費最多的一次。

After the talk, we were led to the truffiere and Snuffle the truffle dog was ready to do the show! We have the soles of our shoes sterilised through a bleach solution before stepping onto the truffiere as a protective measure. Once we were on the truffle land, we followed Snuffle to guide our way.

介紹完畢後，我們被領到園地；松露搜尋犬Snuffle亦已準備就緒！我們先用漂白水消毒鞋底，以免感染植物。一踏到園地上，大夥兒便乖乖地跟着Snuffle，期待着第一顆松露的出現。

Snuffle was leading Sherry to search 
for the hidden gems.

Sherry 在Snuffle的引領下找尋松露的蹤影。

Snuffle is a highly trained sniffer dog and she took truffle hunting as a game. And she was obsessed with this as she would get rewarded after finding a truffle. We were asked not to play with her nor having eye contact with her so that she could stay focused. During the peak harvest period, timing is really tight as each dog can only work for 40 minutes before they lose interest. 

Snuffle是一隻專業的搜索犬，並視松露搜尋為一盤遊戲。Snuffle在發現松露後會得到獎勵，所以她會樂而不倦地進行搜索。在Snuffle工作期間，我們被要求不要逗Snuffle玩，也避免與她有眼神接觸，以免她分心。由於每隻搜索犬只有約40分鐘的專注力，所以在收成的高峰期，是分秒必爭的；希望在搜索犬失去興趣前盡快找到更多松露。

Snuffle located a tree about 
5 minutes after start.

Snuffle進入園地5分鐘便鎖定了目標。

Sherry smelt the spot where Snuffle showed 
for the truffle aroma; if she could not smell it, 
probably the truffle was not 

mature enough for us human to smell.

Sherry會親自確認Snuffle鎖定的位置有否松露的香氣；
如果Sherry聞不到任何氣味，

可能松露還未成熟到散發出足夠香氣被人類嗅到。

Confirmed! Snuffle got her food reward! 
And Sherry would keep praising her ‘Good girl, 
good girl, more truffles’ with excitement.

確認了！Snuffle 得到食物加許；Sherry亦會不斷以
高八度的聲音盛讚Snuffle‘乖孩子’。

The first truffle found in our hunt, which weighed 

57.22g before wash and about 50g after cleaned.

當日找到的第一顆松露，淸洗前57.22克，淸潔後淨重约50克。

Snuffle found another truffle in no time!

Snuffle迅速又發現了另一顆松露!

After the hunt, we returned to the truffle shed 
and got treated with this delicious truffle 
crème brûlée while learning how to clean 

the fresh truffle and its proper storage.

完成松露搜尋後，我們回到了小屋內品嚐這美味的松露焦糖布丁，

同時學習如何清洗和妥善貯存新鮮的松露。

The truffle hunt finished at around 11:45am and it was the most enjoyable guided tour for me so far. I have learnt so much about this amazing fungus and still I have more questions and can’t wait to experiment out truffle dishes with Australian-grown truffles. Apart from this, I have also got some insights from various subjects in the trip. From Gavan: it’s never too late to go for a dream, no matter how much obstacle one may face. From Sherry: Never say never, as you will never know if something suits you or not until you try it out. From Snuffle: Enjoy your work as if it’s a game and you will get the most out of it. Last but not least, from the truffles: stress sometimes could also be a good thing, it brings good stuff in.

整個松露搜尋活動在11時45分左右結束，這可算是我到目前為止最享受的導覽遊。這旅程大大加深了我對松露的了解，亦勾起了更多的好奇，讓我急不及待試驗用澳洲本土培植的松露來做料理。除了這些，我也在不同人/物上得到了一些啟發。在Gavan身上，我看到了要實現一個夢想是永遠不會太晚的，也不要害怕可能會面臨的障礙。在Sherry身上，我明白了永不說永不的道理，除非你嘗試一下，你永遠不會知道什麼最適合自己。從Snuffle的工作模式，我相信了唯有能把工作當成遊戲般享受，才能把事情做到最好。最後，由松露的生長，我發現了原來壓力有時也是一件好事，它可能會刺激出一些好東西。