Butter + soy sauce + mushrooms = umami powerhouse! Whenever I've cooked these Asian King Oyster Mushrooms (also known as Eryngii Mushrooms), people ask for the recipe. They can never believe it only needs 3 ingredients and is ready in under 30 minutes.
🥘 Ingredients
For this umami Asian king oyster mushrooms recipe, you will need 3 simple ingredients:
- eryngii mushrooms: Pick eryngii mushrooms with nice firm and unblemished stems. They absorb water, so just give them a quick rinse under running water before cooking. Do not soak or they'll go soggy and you won't be able to get that nice sear! (If you don't have them, you could still cook the dish with meat or 1 of these mushrooms substitutes.) King oyster mushrooms a fantastic addition to stews and braises as they'll add a savory flavor and absorb the sauce well. They are also delicious in a stir fry, cooked on medium high heat with sesame oil and soy sauce.
- light soy sauce: Since the recipe is so simple, do use the best quality soy you can find, such as Lee Kum Kee Premium First Draw Soy Sauce. Go for naturally fermented, traditionally brewed soya sauces if you can. (Btw, did you know that you can easily make your own dark soy sauce using light soy sauce?) Different brands of soy sauce have different levels of saltiness, so you may want to use less soy sauce when 1st cooking this recipe, then adjusting to taste.
- butter: Make sure you use unsalted butter, if not you run the risk of having an overly salty dish of butter soy sauce eryngii mushrooms.
- Optional, salt: Most likely you won't need salt due to soy's natural sodium content, but every brand of soy sauce is slightly different. Everyone has different tastebuds, so try before serving. Sprinkle salt if you feel the dish needs it. (Avoid adding black pepper: I tested it and think it detracts from the butter and soy sauce!) You may, however, garnish with green onions or other fresh herbs if you wish!
Note: For more Asian mushroom recipes, click here.
I love recipes which don't call for a whole shopping list of ingredients, which is why I have a whole section of recipes that call for only 5 ingredients.
Less can be more, and my favourite Chinese pork ribs recipe actually only needs 5 ingredients to make a scrumptious sauce! So easy and delicious, I always say it's life-changing!
Variations
Squeeze some lemon juice into the melter butter soy sauce for a deliciously tangy and savory dressing.
Alternatively, use a garlic butter for an extra delicious side dish.
🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
- Use a sharp knife to slice the mushrooms lengthwise, ½ inch thick. You'll get 3-4 thick slices per mushroom.
- Score each side of the mushrooms with a crisscross pattern. This helps the mushrooms cook faster and more evenly, as well as allowing the sauce to permeate the mushrooms better.
3. Heat the oil in the pan on medium-high heat. (I use 8.0 on a Bosch induction cooker where the maximum is 9.0).
4. When the oil is hot (but not smoking), place the mushrooms on the pan in a single layer. (Not all the mushrooms will fit on the pan so you will need to brown the mushrooms in batches. I used a 7.5 inch pan and had to sear my mushrooms in 2 lots. )
5. Leave for a few minutes to brown (don't move them around)- the mushrooms will buckle so use your spatula to press them down or they won't brown well.
6. Once golden brown, flip the mushrooms over to sear the other side.
7. Plate the mushrooms when both sides have been browned. Repeat with the remaining mushrooms.
Note: you'll need to add more oil as you fry, as the mushrooms will soak them up!
8. In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.
9. Use your spatula to mix the butter and soy together, allowing the butter to melt and sizzle. Once the butter is sizzling, return all the mushrooms to the pan and mix to coat.
10. Taste and, if necessary, add some salt. I don't but every brand of soy sauce is and everyone's taste buds are different so season to your preference!
IMPORTANT: the water content of the mushrooms also mean that the mushrooms sometimes sputter a bit in the oil when browning, so be warned! Use a splatter guard if you're worried about oil splatter/ burning yourself.
🥡 How to Store
Cooked mushrooms should be kept in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Note: Raw king oyster mushrooms have a long shelf life of about 1 week or more in the fridge. The best way is to store in a brown paper bag.
Don't use a plastic bag or sealed container as there wont' be good airflow- the mushrooms will spoil more easily.
👩🏻🍳 Expert Tips
Tip #1: To speed up the searing process, which is the slowest part of this recipe: after the mushrooms have started browning, they'll shrink. Move them closer together- they won't be brown enough to plate- to make space for new mushrooms to go into the skillet!
Tip #2: Serve these king oysters with some white rice to absorb the delicious soy butter sauce. On the side, you can pair with Asian chicken wings, Poached Soya Sauce Chicken that's as good as takeout or Easy Braised Soy Chicken thighs, clear soup for a balanced meal
🍄 What are Eryngii Mushrooms?
Eryngii Mushrooms (pleurotus eryngii) are also known as French horn mushrooms, trumpet Royale, king oyster mushrooms, king brown mushrooms, king trumpet mushrooms and 杏鲍菇 (Xing Bao Gu.)
They are an edible mushroom often used in Asian cuisines, especially in South Korea as well as Chinese cuisine. However, they're actually native to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, North Africa and Middle East. It's fun to see how far they've travelled!
The largest species in the oyster mushroom genus, it has thick white stems often featured in vegan meals. Unlike other types of mushrooms , their thick stems are chewy but not tough, so we can cook them instead of discarding them!
These delicious mushrooms also have a very meaty texture, which makes them a great meat substitute to add umami flavor to a plant-based diet. Hence, they're sometimes called vegan scallops or mushrooms steaks!
Tip: To make them even more similar to scallops, cut them widthwise instead of lengthwise (such that the mushroom slices are round).
The chewy texture is so similar to meat that I've even made a vegan jerky (bak kwa) out of them before for Chinese New Year- if you end up with too much, here are some recipes to use up leftover bak kwa.)
For Asian vegan dish ideas, click here.
Where to Buy
If you can't get fresh king oyster mushrooms in your usual supermarket, try the farmers' market or Asian grocery stores.
They're available year-round.
🥢 Suggested Accompanying Recipes
Enjoyed this King Oyster Mushroom recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & if you REALLY found this savory mushroom dish delicious, a comment would make my week! Thank you and have a great day!
Quick Eryngii Mushrooms (3-ingredients)
Equipment
- Knife and chopping board
- Cast-iron skillet or pan
Ingredients
- vegetable oil, to taste Use oil with a high smoke point so that you can sear the mushrooms without the oil smoking.
- 4 king oyster/ eryngii mushrooms Rinse under running water but do not soak or they'll go soggy and not sear well. Slice lengthwise into 3-4 pieces. Each piece should be about 0.5cm thick. Score one side of the mushrooms with a crisscross pattern (this helps the mushrooms cook faster and more evenly, as well as allowing the sauce to permeate the mushrooms better.)
- 1 tablespoon butter unsalted
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce or to taste as different brands have different salt levels
- Salt Optional, I don’t use any as my soy is salty enough
- Optional garnish: green onions
Instructions
- Heat the oil in the pan on medium-high heat. (I use 7.0 on a Bosch induction cooker where the maximum is 9.0). When the oil is hot (but not smoking), place the mushrooms on the pan in a single layer. (Not all the mushrooms will fit on the pan so you will need to brown the mushrooms in batches. I used a 7.5 inch pan and had to sear my mushrooms in 2 lots. ) Leave for a few minutes to brown (don't move them around).
- Once brown, flip the mushrooms over to sear the other side. Leave for a few minutes. Plate the mushrooms when both sides have been browned.
- Repeat till all the remaining mushrooms have been browned on both sides. Be prepared for the oil to splatter a bit. (The mushrooms will absorb the oil, so you'll need to top up as you continue searing.)
- Using the same pan, add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Use your spatula to mix the butter and soy together, allowing the butter to melt and sizzle. Once the butter is sizzling, return all the mushrooms to the pan and mix to coat.
- Taste and, if necessary, add some salt. I don't but every brand of soy sauce is and everyone's taste buds are different so season to your preference!
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Nutrition
Do you have a favourite eryngii mushrooms recipe? I'd love to hear about it in the comments! If you enjoyed this dish, you can get more similar Asian recipes by signing up to my newsletter here.
Dorene cheo says
Forgot to give you a rating : my domestic help finds it very easy to follow
Zen says
Awesome, trying to write the recipes as simply as possible!
Dorene Cheo says
My domestic help has been using your recipe to cook these mushrooms for me once every week: I love them! Your recipes are of great help to me as I can’t cook . Thank you again.
Zen says
Great to hear! Glad you find it easy to follow and delicious 🙂 Will post more soon