#52 – THREE MUSHROOM CASSEROLE at A-WAH

Once again Time Out New York released their Top 100 Dishes of the year and once again, I’m going to eat my way through every one. And no price point or subway delay will stop me. In no particular order, here’s my take on their Top 100.

I wish I could be in the room when the Time Out folks decide what makes the cut for their Top 100 list. For instance, how did the Three Mushroom Casserole at A-Wah make the cut?

A-Wah is a semi-hidden little dive on a small street in Chinatown that specializes in bo zai fan, or “clay pot rice”. They’re listed as “World Famous” on the menu and come with a variety of toppings from Minced Pork to Eel to Time Out’s pick of Three Mushrooms.

I was a little frustrated that we weren’t here to try the house specialty (Chinese Sausage and Pork), but instead a vegetarian version that was listed halfway down the menu. My guess is that somebody at Time Out mentioned how much they liked the rice casseroles at A-Wah and then the editors realized they needed more vegetarian options to round out the list, so asked “How are is the mushroom version?” Answer: “It’s fine.” Perfect. And then it was buried down the list (it wasn’t written about in the magazine or online but rather just listed as an extra on the official checklist).

I’m being a bit snide and I’ve no doubt that more thought and precision goes into the choosing of the dishes. But when we received the mushroom rice casserole I couldn’t help but wonder how it made it on this list.

It was a big clay pot full of white rice, topped with a surprisingly small amount of fresh wild mushrooms. I’m not a mushroom expert so I had a hard time picking out exactly which varieties were represented, but I think I recognized shiitake. They were all meaty and had a damp earthy quality. I enjoyed the texture and the freshness of them. I was hoping the rice would have turned crispy at the edges to give a bit more texture to the dish, but that never quite occurred. The sprinkling of green onions helped bring out some flavor, but mostly this was a bland pot of rice and mushrooms.

Now I know we were supposed to add soy sauce to the proceedings and I used some of their house made brew that was sitting on the table. It was richer and thicker than most soy sauces and I enjoyed it, but it still didn’t do much to bring the dish to life.

There wasn’t anything really wrong with the dish – I just found it boring and plain. It felt like basic sustenance (rice, vegetables) and aside from the freshness of the ‘shrooms, not much more. I imagine I would have had a better sense of the cuisine with the Chinese sausage, which with its greasy fat would have no doubt imparted some flavor. Although there are plenty of fatty meaty dishes on Time Out’s list. So in some ways, I do appreciate the respite.

Would A-Wah’s Three Mushroom Casserole make my Top 100 of the year? 5 out of 10. With nothing but fresh mushrooms and a quality soy sauce going for it, I’d have to search deeper into the menu to find something that stands out here.