Vietnamese-Style Fable Mushroom, Lemongrass Stew

Before you begin...

This recipe takes around 5-10 min to prep, so get your casserole dish and all your ingredients ready, then wash your fruit and veg

Note: Make sure your dish is oven-proof and safe to use on the hob. Don't have one? Start cooking in a large, wide-based pan then transfer to an oven-proof dish and cover tightly with foil

Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C (fan)/ gas 7 and boil a kettle

Heat a hob-safe oven-proof casserole dish with a drizzle of vegetable oil over a medium heat

Bash your lemongrass with a rolling pin, remove the tough outer layers of the lemongrass and set aside for later

Once hot, add your Fable pulled mushrooms and lemongrass core[s] to the dish and cook for 1-2 min or until the mushrooms are lightly browned

Meanwhile, peel and chop your brown onion[s] into wedges and crush your cardamom pod[s] open by squashing them with the side of a knife

Add the onion wedges to the dish with your ginger & garlic paste, soy sauce, tamarind paste, pho broth paste, rice vinegar and 1 tbsp [1 1/2 tbsp] [2 tbsp] flour

Add half your chilli flakes (can't handle the heat? Go easy!), half the crushed cardamom pod[s] (you'll use the rest later!), a pinch of sugar and 300ml [390ml] [510ml] boiled water

Stir everything together and bring to the boil, then cover and put in the oven for 25-30 min or until the sauce has thickened

Once the stew is in the oven, add your basmati rice to an oven-proof dish with the remaining crushed cardamom pod[s], outer lemongrass layers, a pinch of salt and 300ml [390ml] [600ml] boiled water

Cover tightly with tin foil and put the dish in the oven for 25-30 min or until all the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked – this is your fragrant baked rice

Use this time to clear up, set the table, have a cup of tea or simply chill!

When the rice has 15 min left, add your sugar snap peas to a large piece of tin foil with the remaining chilli flakes (not a fan of spice? Just add a little!) and 1 tbsp [1 1/2 tbsp] [2 tbsp] cold water

Scrunch the foil around the sugar snap peas to form a tightly sealed parcel and add to a baking tray (Cooking for more than 3? Make 2 separate parcels!)

Put the tray in the oven for 10-12 min or until the sugar snap peas are tender

Once the stew is cooked, discard the lemongrass core[s] and cardamom pod[s]

Use two forks to gently shred apart the Fable mushrooms – this technique is known as 'pulling'

Stir the pulled Fable mushrooms through the sauce – this is your Vietnamese-style Fable mushroom & lemongrass stew

Cover and leave the stew to stand for 5 min before serving (this helps the flavours to develop and makes it easier to serve!)