Recipe King Oyster Mushroom ‘Scallops’
Healthy choice
Mostly whole foods
Gluten-free option
Refined sugar free
Nut-free option
Easy peasy
Super quick
One-pot recipe
Entertaining
Lazy dinners
Main meals
Breakfast & brunch
Snacks
What a great irony that the mushroom named after the oyster is in fact a dead ringer for another shell-dwelling creature: the scallop! These chewy-meaty little morsels are seasoned to perfection and dinner-guest worthy.
You will need
Serves 2
- 4-5 king oyster mushrooms
- 500ml vegan dashi (or vegan-friendly chicken-style broth)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 teaspoons white miso paste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Sea salt and pepper, to season
Recipe: Zacchary Bird
Directions
Step 1
Slice the stem of each mushroom into 2cm thick rounds. Discard the very end of the stem, and reserve the caps for another recipe.
Step 2
Use a paring knife to score a diamond pattern lightly into both sides of each scallop round.
Combine the scallops, dashi, garlic and miso in a container small enough to submerge the scallops, massaging the miso with your fingertips to dissolve. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes to 21 hours.
Step 3
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Remove the scallops from the marinade and pat dry with paper towel. Sprinkle a small pinch of salt and crack some black pepper over one side of the scallops.
Step 4
Once the oil is smoking, add the scallops to the pan pepper-side down. Add pepper and salt to the exposed side of the scallops and once the underside begins to char, around 2-3 minutes, flip the scallops. Cook for a further 2 minutes until both sides are golden and beginning to blacken. Remove from the pan and serve hot as is or on an epic pasta dish!
Hot tip!
To make vegan dashi, take 75g dried shiitake mushrooms (optional) and 20g of dried kombu kelp and use kitchen scissors to cut slits into the kelp to create more surface area. Leaving out the shiitake mushrooms is fine to create a simple kombu dashi.
Combine the kombu and 2 litres of cold water in a bowl. Cover and soak overnight in the fridge to infuse. Pour the stock into a saucepan and place over low heat. Remove and discard the kombu before the temperature reaches 70°C (or just as bubbles begin to appear). Remove from the heat.
Allow the stock to cool before squeezing the liquid out of the shiitake mushrooms and using the dashi as required. The dashi will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Recipe: Zacchary Bird
