Vegan Cashew Cheese & King Oysters

This is based on a dish I sampled at Wild Rice in Vancouver and, while mine pales in comparison to theirs, it's not half bad. The non dairy cheese pairs well with the simplicity of seared king oyster mushrooms (eryngii mushrooms) that are lightly sprinkled with flakes of sea salt.

Mostly I love this recipe because it's dead easy to make and will please a crowd (and by 'crowd' I mean my other half, me, and a bottle of wine). The quantities in the recipe make plenty to serve with the mushrooms, but if you want to forego the fungi and serve vegan cheese spread to a crowd then you'll want to double up (at least).

A few things to keep in mind

Red rice vinegar is made from red yeast rice, a fermented rice with a deep reddish purple colour that's derived from the mould cultivated by the bacteria Monascus Purpureus. The flavour of the vinegar is yeasty and nutty with a tinge of anise and five spice, a distinctive flavour imparted by the cultured red rice. Combined with soy sauce, it's a hit.

Please note red vinegar and red wine vinegar are not the same, and thus not interchangeable.

In the vegan cashew cheese recipe below, I've added additional red rice yeast for colouring, but this is wholly optional. I don't think it's particularly difficult to find (I got mine at Wing Yip in East Croydon), but I'm sure you'll have better luck in sourcing the vinegar (which should be available in most Chinese supermarkets).