Wild mushroom dumplings with wasabi foam

A couple of jobs need to be done the day before you want to serve this dish: making a herb oil and pickling the cauliflower fungus. Start by making a herb oil for the herb emulsion. Pick the parsley leaves from the stalks and chop the chives. Place in a blender with the oil and blitz for a few minutes until you have a bright green oil. Place a piece of muslin cloth in a sieve, set this over a bowl and pour the oil into the muslin. Leave to strain in the fridge overnight

Make a pickle liquor by bringing the vinegar, water, sugar and salt to the boil. Pour this (whilst still hot) over the cleaned cauliflower fungus and leave to pickle in the fridge overnight

The next day, make the mushroom purée. Place the mushrooms in a hot pan with a splash of oil and a pinch of salt. Cook until dark and caramelised. Transfer the mushrooms to a blender and blitz, adding the stock in bit by bit until you have a nice smooth purée (you may not need all the stock). Taste and season, then pass through a fine sieve and transfer to a squeezy bottle or piping bag

To make the herb emulsion, make a mayonnaise using the strained herb oil. Place the egg yolk and mustard in a bowl with a pinch of salt and whisk for a minute until thick and pale. Slowly drizzle the herb oil in whilst continuously whisking. If the mixture starts to split, add a splash of cold water to bring it back together. Taste and season then transfer to a squeezy bottle

To make the dumpling dough, bring the water to the boil. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl then pour over the boiling water and sesame oil. Bring together, then tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough becomes smooth and white. Cover with cling film and set aside to rest for 30 minutes

While the dough is resting, make the dumpling filling. Fry the garlic and ginger in a glug of olive oil until just soft, then add the chopped mushrooms with a little more olive oil and a pinch of salt

Once nice and caramelised, deglaze with the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to release all the brown bits, adding flavour to the mix. Reduce the wine until almost completely evaporated, then take off the heat and stir in the chives. Leave to chill, then transfer to a piping bag

Next, make the sauce for the foam. Sweat the shallots and garlic in a splash of olive oil with a pinch of salt until soft. Once just starting to colour, add the white wine to deglaze the pan then reduce by half

Add the stock and bring to a simmer, then add the milk. It is a thin, foamy sauce so don’t worry about reducing it to make it thicker. Whilst still warm, transfer to a blender and blitz. Add the spinach and wasabi paste with a pinch of salt and blitz until you have a bright green liquid. Pass through a fine sieve and pour into a pan ready to reheat

Once the dough is rested, roll it out thin on a floured surface. Use a 6cm ring cutter to stamp out discs – you’ll need 36 in total. Pipe the cooled filling into the centre of half of the discs, then use your finger to dab round the edge with a little water and top with another disc, to make a total of 18 dumplings

Use the rimmed side of a 5cm ring cutter to gently press and seal the dumplings together without any air bubbles, then use the sharp side of the 5cm cutter to trim and neaten them. Place the finished dumplings on a sheet of baking paper lightly dusted with flour

You now have most of the elements of this dish ready. Set up a large steamer over a pan of simmering water and steam the dumplings (in batches if necessary) for 5 minutes

Meanwhile, gently reheat the mushroom purée by placing the squeezy bottle in a bowl of hot water, and place the wasabi sauce over a low heat to gently warm through. Fry off the remaining cep mushrooms in a hot pan with a knob of butter and the garlic. Once the butter has melted, add a spoonful of water to make an emulsion. Season with salt and chopped chives

To plate, pipe 3 dots of mushroom purée onto each plate or shallow bowl and top with three dumplings. Place the ceps in between each dumpling and dot with more mushroom puree and some of the herb emulsion. Top with parsley cress

Finally finish with the wasabi foam. Ensure the pan of sauce is warm, add a pinch of soy lecithin (if using) and use a hand blender to create a foam. If you don't add the soy lethicin, then the sauce will only be very lightly foamy, but will still taste delicious. Carefully spoon some of the foam over each plate and serve