Monday 6 January 2014

Sticky sweet'n'sour Oyster Mushrooms

  I had never grilled mushrooms before. I don't really know why, it had just never crossed my mind as the frying pan had always been my weapon of choice, however, I'm going to have to start experimenting, as they turned out very nicely indeed!  These would make a great starter or they could even be the star of the show in an Asian-inspired veggie stir-fry or vermicelli noodle salad - I shall be doing them again for sure.

I found these Oyster Mushrooms at my trusty 'spot', where I have been finding Oyster Mushrooms consistently throughout the last two years.  My 'spot' is a large Beech branch that has come a cropper from high winds and is now being slowly digested by Oyster Mushroom mycelium, and I'm very thankful for it too!  Beech is the best place to look for Oysters, be it a dying tree or a dead piece of branch, this is not to say they won't grow on other trees, but they are most commonly found on Beech.

As you may be able to tell from the pictures, it was absolutely tipping it down when out on the walk and we got soaked to the bone, but finding these Oysters along with some Trumpet Chanterelles made it well worth it.


Spectacular looking Oysters, though these were too big to be eaten as they become
tough with age - youngest specimens only for the plate



It was raining pretty hard...

Ingredients:

- Oyster Mushrooms 
- Orange juice
- Honey
- Red wine vinegar
- Lemon
- Salt and pepper


First of all get the grill on full whack and cut your Oyster Mushrooms in to bite-sized chunks.  I don't have any exact measurements for the ingredients, just try the sauce and adjust to taste - you're trying to get a sweet and sour sauce, so the sweet obviously comes from the honey and orange juice and the sour from the red wine vinegar and lemon juice. You don't need much sauce - just enough to coat the mushrooms as you want them to go crispy and sticky under the grill. As the Oysters were wet when picked, they gave off some liquid after about five minutes under the grill - drain this off in order for them to crisp up.  Check regularly, turn if needed, take out when starting to turn crispy, voilĂ ! 


Ingredients

Season well



Seriously tasty





No comments:

Post a Comment