Vegan stir-fry with king oyster mushrooms in garlic sauce
Written by Estelle & Alice for The Wok House
A disc of king oyster mushroom laid in a smoking-hot wok has to sit for two minutes without being touched: that's when it forms its golden crust. I score each side in a criss-cross with the tip of a knife first, and the garlic sauce settles into the cuts. Allow 45 minutes, 30 of them for soaking the wood ear mushrooms, which is when you get everything else ready.
King oyster mushrooms, often sold as eryngii, have a thick, firm stem that holds together in the pan and turns almost meaty. Here they're stir-fried with wood ear mushrooms, fresh chilli and spring onion, then glazed with a sauce of black vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. That sweet and sour mix, sharpened with garlic and chilli, recalls Sichuan yu xiang, a seasoning whose name means 'fish-fragrant' although it contains no fish; the classic version also adds ginger and pickled chillies. The dish is vegan as it stands, with nothing swapped out. What makes it work is a very hot wok and small batches, so the mushrooms brown instead of releasing their water.
King oyster mushroom stir-fry with garlic sauce
Discs of king oyster mushroom browned in the wok in batches, stir-fried with wood ear mushrooms, garlic and chilli, then glazed with a black vinegar and soy sauce.
For 3 or 4 people, use a 32cm wok. The king oyster mushrooms go in 2 batches, in a single layer, and the whole dish fits in the wok when the sauce goes in.
Ingredients
For the mushrooms
For the sauce
For the aromatics
To cook and serve
Equipment
- 32cm carbon steel wok
- Wok spatula
- Large bowl, for soaking
- Saucepan with a lid, for the rice
- Chef's knife and chopping board
Method
Soak the wood ear mushrooms
Put 15g dried wood ear mushrooms in a large bowl and cover them with plenty of warm water. Leave them to soak for 30 minutes: they swell up and take back their ear shape. Start the rice and prepare everything else in the meantime.
Start the rice
Rinse 300g jasmine rice under cold water until it runs almost clear. Put it in a saucepan with one and a half times its volume of water, bring to the boil, then cover and cook for 12 minutes over a very low heat. Turn off the heat and leave it to stand for 10 minutes without lifting the lid.
Cut the king oyster mushrooms
Wipe 600g king oyster mushrooms with damp kitchen paper rather than rinsing them: once waterlogged, they won't brown. Cut the stems into 1.5cm-thick discs and halve the caps. Score both sides of each piece in a criss-cross with the tip of a knife, making cuts 2 to 3mm deep every 5mm.
Mix the sauce
In a bowl, mix 2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine, 2 tbsp black vinegar, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp cornflour and 2 tbsp cold water. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and there are no lumps of cornflour left, then put the bowl next to the wok.
Prepare the aromatics
Drain and rinse the wood ear mushrooms. Trim off the small hard knob where they were attached to the wood, then tear the larger ones into 3cm pieces. Pat them dry in a tea towel: wet, they spit in the hot oil. Finely chop 6 garlic cloves, slice the chillies and cut the spring onions into thin rounds, keeping the whites separate from the greens.
Brown the king oyster mushrooms
Heat the wok over a high heat until it just starts to smoke. Brown the mushrooms in 2 batches: for each batch, pour in a tablespoon and a half of oil, lay the discs flat in a single layer and leave them untouched for 2 minutes. Turn them over and give them 2 to 3 minutes more. They're ready when both sides are golden brown and the edges are starting to wrinkle. Set them aside on a plate and wait for the wok to smoke again before the next batch.
Garlic, wood ears and chilli
Turn the heat down to medium and pour in 1 tbsp oil. Add the garlic and the spring onion whites and stir for 30 seconds: the garlic should turn pale gold and smell strong without browning. Turn the heat back up to high, add the wood ear mushrooms and the chillies and stir-fry for 1 minute, until the wood ears are glossy with oil and crackling.
Thicken the sauce
Return the king oyster mushrooms to the wok. Stir the sauce, as the cornflour sinks to the bottom of the bowl, then pour it down the side of the wok, tossing all the time. Within 30 seconds to 1 minute it thickens and turns glossy, and every disc is glazed. Add the spring onion greens, toss one last time and turn off the heat.
Serve
Serve straight away over the rice, with the sauce left in the bottom of the wok. In a Chinese-style meal, these mushrooms go in the middle of the table to share with other dishes, or on top of a bowl of noodles.
Wok tips
- Scoring the discs gives you more edges to brown, and the sauce then settles into the cuts. Once they're in the wok, leave them for 2 minutes without touching them: moved too early, they stick and leave their crust on the bottom. In a well-seasoned wok, they come away on their own once golden.
- Chopped garlic burns in a few seconds in a smoking wok and turns bitter. That's why it goes in after the king oyster mushrooms, over a lower heat, and why 30 seconds is all it needs. The wood ears, added straight after, cool the wok down and stop the garlic cooking.
- On induction, a flat-bottomed wok stays in contact with the hob. The Kaikoma, a 32cm carbon steel wok, works on every type of hob, induction included. Heat it for 2 minutes at full power before the first batch and stir-fry with the spatula without lifting it: once it's off the hob, it stops heating.
- Pour the sauce into a really hot wok. If it doesn't bubble straight away, the cornflour won't thicken: the sauce stays cloudy and tastes of raw starch. If it's too thick by the time you serve, loosen it with a tablespoon of hot water.
Variations
- Instead of king oyster mushrooms: 600g oyster mushrooms for 4, torn into 2cm strips, or fresh shiitake, halved. They cook faster, 3 minutes per batch, and release more water, so keep the batches small.
- Instead of Chinkiang black vinegar: 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar for 4, with only 2 teaspoons sugar, as balsamic is sweeter. Instead of Shaoxing rice wine: the same amount of dry sherry. Instead of dark soy sauce: ½ teaspoon extra sugar; the sauce will be paler.
- With pickled chillies: in place of the fresh chillies, 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped Sichuan pickled chillies (pao jiao), or shop-bought chilli garlic sauce, for 4, added with the garlic. Start with 1 tablespoon: depending on the brand, they can be quite salty and hot.
- A more filling dish: 300g firm tofu, patted dry and cut into 2cm cubes, browned on two sides in 1 tablespoon oil before the mushrooms, then returned to the wok with them when the sauce goes in. Or 150g frozen shelled edamame beans, thawed, added with the wood ears.
Storage
One day in the fridge in an airtight container, with the rice kept separately. Reheat for 1 to 2 minutes in the wok over a high heat with a spoonful of water: the mushrooms lose their crust but keep their flavour. You can make the sauce the day before and keep it in a jar in the fridge; stir it well before pouring it in.
The Kaikoma Wok Pan
Uncoated carbon steel, Ø 32cm, all hobs including induction
Frequently asked questions
Why are my mushrooms watery instead of golden?
The wok isn't hot enough, or the batch is too big. Packed together, the discs cook in the steam they give off and stay pale. Don't go over 300g per batch in a 32cm wok, and wait for the wok to smoke before each batch.
How long do you soak dried wood ear mushrooms?
30 minutes in warm water: they soften, and 15g dried gives about 100g. If you soak them for longer than 2 hours, do it in the fridge. Throw away any that have sat in water for more than a day: bacteria can produce a toxin in them that cooking doesn't destroy.
Where can I buy king oyster mushrooms?
In the mushroom section of supermarkets, often labelled eryngii, and in Asian supermarkets. Choose firm white stems with no brown spots or soft patches. Dried wood ear mushrooms are sold in bags in the same Asian supermarkets.
Is this dish spicy?
It all depends on the chillies. Mild long chillies give a fragrant dish with very little heat; bird's eye chillies make it hot. To tone it down, remove the seeds and the white membranes, where most of the heat is.
