Ingredients
2 ¼ cups beer batter (above recipe)
1 ½ pounds fresh mushrooms
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste, if desired
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Oil for deep frying
Sour cream and horseradish sauce
Directions
Prepare the beer-battle base at least two hours in advance. Before using, fold in the egg white. If the mushrooms are small button mushrooms, leave them whole. If they are medium-size, cut them in half. If they are quite large, cut them into quarters.
Place the mushrooms or mushroom pieces in a mixing bowl and add the garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss and let stand until ready to cook. The mushrooms may be dipped batter and deep-fried from the raw state. It is preferable, however, if the mushrooms are steamed prior to dipping them in the batter and cooking. This will rid them of much of their liquid. Bring water to the boil in the bottom of a steamer base. Place the mushrooms or mushroom pieces in a steamer rack, place it over the water, and cover. Let steam about three minutes. Drain and let stand until cool.
Heat the oil in a deep fat fryer, wok, or skillet to a temperature of about 375 degrees. Add the mushrooms or mushroom pieces to the batter. Lift one mushroom or one piece at a time from the batter, using the tines of a two-pronged fork, and quickly add it to the surface. Do not crowd the pieces. As you fry, take care to remove and discard browned bits and pieces of batter that may accumulate from the droppings. Let cook, stirring, three or four minutes or until golden brown all over. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot with sour cream and horseradish sauce. Makes about 50 or more fried mushrooms or mushroom pieces.