Mushroom Scallops
SEARED KING OYSTER MUSHROOMS
FROM THE RED HERRING CHAPTER
OF THE VEGAN BUTCHER
Not convinced of why king oyster mushrooms get royal status?
Start with this recipe. Scoring and searing the stems is all that's required to turn them into a meaty plant based seafood substitute and freakishly good scallops.
“Oyster mushrooms are one of my favorites because they're just, well, as you've now discovered, they're so meaty. I've used them in the lamb shish kebabs, also in the beef chapter. And I absolutely love king oyster mushrooms because the really long stalks become scallops just by cutting them, by scoring them and putting them in a sort of seafood inspired marinade. Once you've seared them up, they are absolutely out of this world. That's beef, fish and chicken all made out of just the oyster mushroom family. How wonderfully versatile.” - Zacchary Bird on the Cookery By The Book podcast
They’re great on pasta or as an appetiser, but you can also use cooked king oyster mushrooms as a filling like in these Curried Scallop pies photographed by Emily Weaving for The Vegan Baker cookbook.
King Oyster Mushroom Scallops have creamy, melt in your mouth centres and firm, almost-rubbery outsides just like scallops once you marinate and cook them right.
King Oyster Mushroom Scallops
Ingredients
- 4 - 5 king oyster mushrooms
- 500ml (2 cups) vegan dashi or vegan chicken style stock
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon miso paste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, for searing
- salt and pepper, for searing
- 20g (3/4 oz) kombu kelp
- 75g (2 3/4 oz) dried shiitake mushrooms
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Slice the stem of each mushroom into 2 cm (3⁄4 in) thick rounds. Discard the very end of the stem, and reserve the caps for another recipe.
- 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 24 hours.
- 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 cracksome blackpepper over one side of the scallops.
- 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, 2-3 minutes, flip the scallops. Cook for a further 2 minutes until both sides are golden and beginning to blacken along the score lines. Remove from the pan and serve as is or with the Squid ink pasta on page 146 of The Vegan Baker.
- Use kitchen scissors to cut slits/add more surface area to the dried kombu.
- Combine the shiitake mushrooms, kombu and 2 litres (8 cups) 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 (160°F' 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. Reserve the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms to use in other recipes. The dashi will keep in an airtight container in the tridge for up to 1 week.
This recipe is out of my second cookbook The Vegan Butcher.
Just one of many wonderful ways to create meaty substitutes to meat out of mushrooms in my cookbook The Vegan Butcher.