3 Tricks To Master Cooking Mushrooms

What do I do if I hate mushrooms? How do I get it? How do I like mushrooms? Like people will email me and literally ask me, how do I like mushrooms again? Because a lot of people have been ruined by their parents cooking them the wrong way or just the way that used to be done, you know, just soft and mushy and slimy and gross. This is gonna be three ways to make mushrooms amazing so you don't hate them. All three of these techniques, so good to try. And there's so many more techniques I know. There's a lot more techniques to do, but I'm only showing three today. You might not wanna flame that up in your kitchen, but. And I'm gonna use king oyster mushrooms for this. And I have three different brands. Well, not brands, but three different sizes. This one is the mega massive, mega king oyster. It's just bigger. What they do is they ended up, you know, I did that video, which I can link below, of touring a mushroom farm in Korea and how they'll cut the smaller ones around it so one will grow really big. And that's what they do. They just let it grow oversized. And then they have the more perfect ones. And this one is one brand. And I got these all at an Asian grocer. And I have been seeing lately, you know, a lot more like the central markets, the whole food markets, they're starting to sell them. And maybe some of the other grocery stores that you might know, if you know of any grocery stores that are selling these king oysters, link them below. But I know you can find them in Asian markets and they're super inexpensive. So we're going to use these and I'm going to share how to make them amazing. So the first one, I'm going to use one of these larger ones. You can use a smaller one, but for the effect of what I'm going to share here on the video, it'll show a lot better. So for this, I'm just going to trim off the top and I save this. And then we're going to do a little bit thick, probably one inch thick. So just like that, one inch, all the way down to the bottom. Sometimes the bottom is the toughest part and this doesn't feel too bad. So I'm just going to save it with the top because we will use it. So what I like to do with these is score them and just one, two, three, four, five. And then I turn it one, two, three, four, five. And that is going to add to our super nice look and visual appeal and then also allow seasonings and the browning to be on those edges just so it looks super professional. And it's very easy, just lightly skimming the top. Okay, done. These, while we have them here, I'm just going to trim off this tiny bit and that'll be the waste. But I'm just going to slice. Super, super thin. Same with the top. Quick clean up. So there's several ways to actually make the scallops too. One is we can poach them. So I'm going to show that. And then also two, you don't have to poach them. I have a little bit of miso, so I'm going to take about a tablespoon of miso, a little bit of plant-based butter. For those of you who are asking what plant-based butter is, yeah, maybe it was called margarine back in our day, back when I was a little kid, but it's called plant-based butter now. And it's a blend of oils that are emulsified and stay together like this. And it's got the buttery flavor. And why do I use it? Because I'm not going to use regular butter. Why am I not going to use regular butter? Because it's made from secretions and pus of animals. And I am not using that. So you can use oil. You don't have to use this. If you're one of those purists who believe it's no good for you. But for me, you know what? If you're eating regular butter, this is still the better alternative. I'm just going to add some hot oil and water to this. Just loosen it up. While there's only a little bit of water, just to break those big chunks of miso up. It'll come apart anyways. And then just stir it in just like this and get that butter to melt. And as that melts down, I'm just going to add a little bit more hot water here. Not much, because I want that miso flavor to go into the mushroom. So I'm just going to add two like this into here and just flip them over. And we're just going to let that soak up for a minute. I'll set this aside. Still super hot. The other two, I'm just going to do straight up like this. And I will show both methods. So one of the reasons why I like to soak them sometimes is because it's driving more juiciness into it. If I want to maybe drive some of that miso flavor to go throughout it. But it's really often hard to tell when you're sitting down and I serve you one of each of these, whether it's soaked, poached, or not. Because a lot of the flavor developing and building happens right in the pan. Crank this on. I'm going to use a medium-sized cast iron pan. Until it's hot, I'm going to add a little bit of oil here on the bottom. Give it a quick swirl. And again, with the heat, I do not want this heat crawling up the side of the pan. I want it underneath the pan. So whatever that is, for me it's like a medium to high heat. It just helps me not burn my arm hairs from the heat coming up. And also focuses the heat more towards the center of the pan. Just things I think about. Now these are the ones, the scored side down first. These are the ones that aren't soaked and not poached. So those are going to go on that side right there. And then the ones that are poached, this might sizzle a little bit because of the water. Now I want this on a medium-high heat. I'm going to lower the heat because we're not going to touch them from here. You could add a little bit of butter if you want to help bread the browning along more, but I think we'll just do this with the oil because there's some butter in the miso broth that we'll use afterwards. And I'm going to add just a touch of that miso broth here. Just a touch. And as I do that, with the oil, it's going to start splattering. So I'm going to cover it right away. And that is just going to steam it. And then as that water evaporates, it's going to start to caramelize and brown really nicely because we want a nice brown, golden top. Like that top crispy layer that you're going to see and dig into is going to be so appetizing. And then you're going to eat it. And the texture, it's just so good. But who am I? I'm nobody. You don't have to listen. You see that? Nice. Now I'm going to season the top. These are the bottom sides. So I want to season the bottom of this because maybe I want it super clean when we serve it. So you won't see the seasoning and you'll just have it on the bottom part. So I'm going to add a little bit of black pepper, the cracked black pepper. And then I like doing both cracked and powdered just for the different textures and different hits on the tongue. And I love black pepper. So if you think I'm adding too much, don't add as much. And then just a pinch of salt because that miso will be salty. So check this out. Look at that. Look at that beautiful coloring. Like that's what I'm looking for. And you will notice that sometimes the mushroom will start buckling and it'll get just really brown on the edges, but the middle, because it's contracting. So I'll do that. Slide these over. These ones aren't. So these are going to take a little bit longer because of the poaching. If you want to expedite the coloring on the top, just a little press. And you can hear that. And then what that's doing is straightening out that buckle. So the entire bottom surface is touching onto the pan. And now you'll get an even golden brown sear. I always wipe this bottom pan off because it just collects all that condensation. I'm going to touch more oil here. Crank up the heat a little bit more. I like that side. Just flipping them over to try to get the more even side. And now you see the top with the scores. Beautiful. And you'll notice I have these on the edges because that's where the most heat is. Just a little press on both of those sides. So some of this might be too fancy for you. This is the way I cook for myself. I'll cook for friends. But if you don't have an extra pan or you don't want to press them, it's okay. The flavor is there. Just going to give these a quick flip. And that looks freaking fantastic. Look at those. They're gorgeous. When I know these are done, I'm just going to put them to the side here. I shredded up and boiled and added the blanching technique that I've shown so many times with some chiffonade collard greens and then some just garlic. And just for the sake of the video, I want to mostly show you just the technique and then you can add these to whatever you want, any flavor. But how I'm going to serve them, this is going to be how I'll serve them. A little bit of olive oil, pinch of salt, pinch of black pepper, little bit of that miso broth. So I'm just going to saute up those mushrooms that I'd cut, the ends, the top bit. You might not want to flame that up in your kitchen, but just getting that nice and wilted. Let's plate this bad boy. Normally I would plate three of these on a dish, but I want to do the both of them so we know which ones are which. And then to heat up that miso that was soaking in them, I just added it right to the pan I was doing the garnish on. Those mushrooms, gone. It looks great. It looks beautiful. Try not to blow too much smoke on my own. But it looks amazing. I'm super excited about it. I'm going to try this one. This is the poached one first. And I can just tell the difference by the tops, whether there's any taste difference. Look at that. And this looks gorgeous, like a scallop. Very, very nice. Similar to a scallop, it doesn't melt in your mouth like a scallop because the mushroom's a lot stronger fibers and it holds its shape a lot better. And it's got a little bounce to it, but I like that. The flavors of the cracked pepper in between the grooves, super nice. And the miso, just really, really good. And it felt like it was permeated throughout the whole thing. Just going to taste the broth. Yum. And the miso, that king oyster mushroom is such a beautiful taste in the background of the broth. And I'll share more on that in the next technique that I'm going to show. But first let's try the ones that I didn't soak. It looks to me like it's a little bit more whiter. I do think the one that is poached in the miso broth is better, but this one is just as good. And I might maybe cook it on a lower heat for a little bit longer and then add some more liquid and do that steam with the top on it, just a little bit more. But there's no reason why it can't be just as good. They're both delicious. Just the one that wasn't soaked has more bounce and more of that texture, the chewiness that some people like, some people don't like. I enjoy it. And then for the garnish is just taking those collards that I had, blanched them off with boiling water, rinsing it out, some slivered garlic, and then the mushrooms that was the scrap that I pulled off, I just sliced them up and sauteed them so they're a little crispy edges. And then that's just going to be a great garnish or accompaniment to go with it. Like yum, so good. Such a lovely, lovely dish. This is just one way out of the three ways I'm going to share right now. Next, I'm going to use three of the smaller ones and then one of the bigger ones, just so you can see the differences. You can still use them. For this, I'm going to need a fork. So this technique here is one of the easiest ones where I just take the fork and run it down side of the mushroom, the whole mushroom. We're not going to waste any of this, right? This is the way I do it. And then I'll twist it because it's a bigger one. And then I'm going to hand pull it apart. And this is going to give it that extra bit of texture where you're going to get some big pieces, some small, just like a shredded turkey, poultry, chicken. And this is what I'm going to recreate and emulate, much less harm. And you can use these as anything you would normally do with a shredded chicken. Some big, some small, some thick, some thin. Same with the top. Top, well, there's less fiber. It's a little bit more spongier, but I just break it up. Okay, and then I have a pot right here. We're going to add it all to this. These smaller ones, if you want, you can just shred the whole thing. It just takes a little bit more time and then you'll get much thinner strands and it'll start to fall apart. And this is totally okay too, if you want thinner strands. Some are big, some are small, just rip the rest apart. And you can tell the differences in the mushrooms. Like these ones are a lot tighter, the smaller ones, a lot tighter. So this is great for holiday meals. If you want to do like a shredded turkey and gravy, anything you would normally use, pulled or shredded chicken, or even shredded beef or shredded pork. This is a great substitute. Frankie, don't worry about the protein. Too many people are protein obsessed. I will add chickpeas or tofu to something in a dish if I need more protein. But this is all about flavor, texture, and just satisfying any kind of need to eat meat because of the memories I have of eating it. Just because I have memories of eating animal products when I was a kid and I was fed them, doesn't mean it was right. It's just my feeling. Always clean up after myself. I try to clean up after myself before I even walk over to the stove. So I'm always coming back to a nice, clean cutting board station. And if you're in a work kitchen, then if somebody needs to use your station, it's already clean. So I'm going to fill this up with water. Just fill them. Crank this on. Make sure the heat's not coming up over the edges. It stays underneath it. A little bit of salt, a little bit of black pepper. Guys, this, if you don't want to use just water and you want to add a lot more flavor, I'm working with these guys. This broth is freaking amazing. They're not sponsoring this video. I just want to share that if you want much more of an intense flavor, use this broth, the Lion's Mane broth, the first functional Lion's Mane broth on the market. And they're launching into 1,000 sprout stores this September 1st. So they'll be available if you're near your sprouts. But this would make amazing, especially if you're going to use this for a holiday dish, which I'm showing how to do like turkey and gravy, shredded chicken and gravy. But this would just add a lot more flavor. And I'm not doing it right now just because I'm doing a video. I don't know why I'm not doing it, but it's a good option. I'm going to bring this to a boil, a simmering boil, let it come up to temperature and then let it sit, maybe simmer for like 10, 15 minutes. So once this comes to a boil, I just take the cover off and then lower it down to a simmer, to a medium. And then I'll let it simmer for like 15 minutes. Because, and the reason for the simmering is I want that broth to form. The mushrooms are pretty cooked now. You can just keep cooking and cooking if you want, simmering as long as you want, but I want to save that broth. So we're going to just infuse a little bit more flavor into it. All right, it's been about 15 minutes. I have a bowl here, catch. And I'm going to set this here just to drain fully. Take this out carefully because that's the delicious broth and just set that to the side. Let that cool, let that drain. Five minutes, we'll get back to it. I'm going to crank this on, get this nice and hot. Hot enough. I'm going to add a fair amount of plant-based butter because I want that fat. There's no fat in mushrooms, but there's tons of fat in animal products. So I'm just going to add that right to it. I'm going to save this pot because I'm going to use it. And I'm not going to move it too much around. I want everything to melt in the fat and then it's going to start forming that nice crispy brown layer. And on the top is what I'm going to season it. I'm going to add a pinch of salt, not too much, just a pinch, some black pepper. And then I want these to be a little bit more holiday flavor. So I am going to add poultry seasoning. And this is just a good pinch. I'll probably add a teaspoon. Poultry seasoning, thyme, sage, rosemary. I believe it's just all like, tastes like Thanksgiving to me. So the broth, I am just going to move it into here carefully. So this will be what I'll have leftover. And then I have this I'm going to use. So it really does give a good amount. And I love that. The way I want to serve this, and I'm going to share and just show, you can make this, like I said, any way you want, but I'm going to do it with the gravy. Oops, always the wrong one. I'm going to get this heat on. And today I'm using, I'm going to, I'm not ashamed to use instant gravy, especially for the video. Otherwise I'd be making gravy using that lion's mane broth. But I'm just going to add a little bit here, tablespoon or two. I'm going to have a whisk. This broth is already hot. All I'm going to do is just whisk this in. This is like the easiest solution. And I learned this one in the UK. Everybody was all crazy about this Bisto instant gravy because it's vegan. Naturally. And the thing about this, just making sure it starts to thicken up right away. You can see that. So I want to make sure I get in all the corners and I just want to make it a gravy consistency. It's just a really simple, easy sauce if you need during the week and you don't feel like doing the whole homemade thing with the roux and the flour, which we'll do at some point. But today for this, this is perfect. So I'm going to make it just a little thinner and then that will be perfect as it cooks out. Cause you want that to cook out all that starchiness that it has. And now the mushrooms I haven't touched has probably been at least a couple of minutes, but now you can see the browning. It just creates that nice browning and it's just delicious. That's going to start to form crispy edges and that's where all the flavor is going to be and texture. Again, keeping it so the heat is not beveling out over the pan. It's underneath the pot, the pan, whatever size pan you have on here. Cause I want to heat the pan, not the sides. This is thickening up again. So I'm just going to add a little bit more liquid. You can follow the directions on it, which I suggest at least reading them. And then I just make it to eye, to sight, making sure I'm not burning the sides. That's what I care about. A little bit more here. And then you can see all the seasoning in the bottom of this. I'm going to add this right to the mushrooms. Awesome. Look at that, looks fantastic. So this is done the way it is, but I want more color on it. So I'm going to let it cook a little bit longer. The thing about, that's amazing about mushrooms is you can just cook the crap out of them. And what I feel and see is a lot of people from the past where the way their parents cooked them, they were all slimy and maybe just not cooked enough, but mushrooms are so durable. Let them cook that extra couple of minutes. Don't pull them off thinking you're, oh, they're done. Rarely, you know, you don't want them to burn, but the more that they cook, the better the flavor. I'm just going to plate this just like this. If you were going to do a platter, I might do it on a casserole dish. Rinse the pan. I will stop plating everything to clean up my cast iron pans because that's how you got to do it. Just take care of it while it's hot. Super important. That's why I keep doing it over and over again. Just wipe it out. Ready for the next time. My favorite part, tasting, eating. I love it. And this looks so good with that gravy. My mouth is already watering. So good. The thing I like about these mushrooms is some of them, because they're all different sizes and shapes and textures on the plate, they really, like, some melt in your mouth. Some are extra chewy. Some are a little bit crispy. It's all, it's that whole party of experience in your mouth that is just so good. And the saltiness of the gravy and the hot, and it just tastes like Thanksgiving to me. So freaking good. All right, one more. Amazing. This was number two. Now let's get onto number three, one of my favorites. And bonus is that broth. It's so good. So good for gravies, for the base, for a soup. Just as it is like this for ramen. It's like you get, you get an extra, get a thing of broth after you make the thing of mushrooms. Number three of three ways to cook king oyster mushrooms. Again, I'm using a small and a big, just so you can see that you can do them with all different sizes, this method. I'm just going to take this root, this one. I can tell it's super firm. So I'm cutting that off. If I'm going to make more stock, I'd use it. And with these, I am just going to slice as thin as I can. And you want to make sure they're in pieces. You could use a mandolin if you have a sharp enough one, but you want to do it as thin as possible. Sorry, I'm going to boil some water too. So hold on a second. Be mindful, like try not to make them rip. You need long, thin strips. And this one, I can tell this stem part is extra hard. So I'm cutting that right off. It's going over in that pile. And if I mess up, that goes into the scrap pile for broth or just sauteing. These other ones, extra for chopping up and just sauteing. And I have one full one I'll use later for something else. And then I just place these right in this bowl. Next step, mushrooms. I'm just going to add boiling water. I boiled this. And this is going to soften up the mushrooms and make them pliable to work with. So I'm just going to cover them, make sure that there's enough water. They'll start floating to the top. Push those down. Some are stuck together, just getting them all under submerged. And then I have my food service grade plastic wrap and I'm going to wrap that up because I want it to steam until it's cool. And we're just going to leave this until it's cool enough to work with. And that will help soften them up and you're going to see what we're going to do. It's awesome. Guys, I'm going to take this opportunity to do a shameless plug for our own cookbook. My brother and I and Dave wrote. It just shares a whole ton of recipes, all kinds with mushrooms, everything else. So if you haven't already, and I know we're coming on the holiday season. And you know what? I'm not being sponsored in this video. So I just want to plug my own book. I'm not going to be ashamed of it. I hope you get it and I hope you love it because I'm super proud of it. So I took, they were cooled. I strained them out. Just been sitting here, drip drying. I have some skewers in my favorite mug and each of these now, what I'm going to do is fold it like an accordion and then we're going to skewer. So that'll be one. And you can do it on the skewer or you can do it on the board. Sometimes it's easier on the board, however you want to do it. But you want to squeeze them in tight and I kind of like, if one cap is over here, then I turn it so it's the opposite direction. Done. And this is a little bit more tedious, but it's well worth it. So you can get probably a half a mushroom onto each one. Try to make it as even as possible. It's kind of like a very mushroomy yakitori style. At some point, I would suggest just like stop talking and just like assemble the rest of it. I will, yeah, exactly. Which you'll have plenty of opportunity to do that. But right now, I'm talking. My cameraman's talking ---- to me. Just like that, it's one. You just messed it up. So we got three. And the more mushrooms you make, the more you do these. So I've done these a lot for parties and events. You just need quite a few mushrooms, but it's well worth it. One of these, it's a lot of mushroom on one skewer. Let me put this away. I'm gonna add these right to this. Clean up my station as usual. And I'm gonna use this, it's chicken rub. Just a store-bought chicken rub. I'm just gonna season the exteriors of these pretty well. Turn them, season. I want a fair amount of season on this. Turn them again if you have to, season. A lot of it falls off, but it's good. You get the point. Get this pan nice and hot. Once that pan's hot, a little bit of oil on the bottom here. Just gonna sear. Now remember, the hot spots are gonna be the edges, so I'm gonna cook them like this. I'm gonna add, this seasoning, I don't wanna waste it, so I'm gonna add a little bit of water to it. On a medium-high heat, medium-low, because I don't wanna burn them right away. I wanna slowly cook and caramelize the exterior skin. And I'm gonna add a little bit of water in a second to help it along. I'm just using the water here. Capture that steam cook. Beautiful. Should stick something. If you wanna bookend these with green onions or a piece of onion just to hold them together better, that's a great idea. I didn't do it, because I'm trying to keep this as simple and mushroom-focused as possible. So you're gonna wanna get some color on that. And if we wanna get more color on it faster, then we use a little bit of plant-based butter. Almost lost that one. I'm just gonna put that right in there. I'm just gonna flip these now. It's starting to get a little bit of color on each side. I don't want them to fall apart, and I should've bookend them. So now you know to bookend them. You can see this, the color starting to form. And I want that on all the sides, just this kind of coloring. The crispy bit, the crispy edges. Rest of that water. Gorgeous. So good. Do one more flip here. Because it's so hot here, I'm not turning on the oven, but normally now I would cook this for another minute, and I'll tell you when I would do this, but Frankie, I got this. Hold on a second. I would roast this afterwards to finish it. I would take it from this form, marinate it, and whatever I'm gonna show you now, or whatever you want, and then after it cools down, you can pop it back in the oven before you serve it. That's how I would do it at a restaurant or somewhere else. Just get it to this point. You know it's already cooked. It's gonna be delicious. And I said earlier, mushrooms take a licking and keep on ticking. If that's not copyright. But anyways, you know what I mean. You can cook mushrooms so much, and it won't ruin them. It's just gonna make them better. And I feel like that is the problem people have. They don't cook them enough. So that is looking gorgeous to me. I just don't want that to come off. Like beautiful. This is third part soy sauce, a third of a third of a part of agave, and then some sesame oil, which is like half of a half of a part. And I know Frankie's gonna give me a hard time with that, but this is what I'm gonna just use this. I'm gonna turn off the heat, and we're gonna let that cook in there. And that's gonna be the sauce. And if I was gonna marinate, I would just marinate it in this so it permeates the whole thing. But I wanna get through this, and I just wanna show you the technique. And you guys flavor them whatever you want, however you want, as my glasses fog up and get all oily. But it's all about just the techniques. You take the technique, flavor it how you want. I do not add this sooner because it will burn, and I don't like burnt soy sauce taste. So this should be fine. It's just gonna be nice and hot. So let's plate this up. Always, pan, while it's hot, that's the best way to clean and season these. I'm just gonna do it over and over again, because that's how it works in my house, and that's how I take care of so many cast irons, because they're awesome. Until the next time. Honestly, some cast iron company should come and sponsor me. I'm just gonna add a little bit of extra sauce. Gorgeous. Let's try this. It's delicious. With the rub, and the soy, and the sesame, it's perfect. It's so freaking meaty. I mean, look at that. It looks amazing. It is so meaty, especially with the crispy. That's why I try to get the crispy edges so much, is because it's not that I wanna eat an animal product, because I do not, but I like the flavors and textures from cooking, and you can just get the same ones cooking vegetables and mushrooms. Less harm, more fun, more kind. It's what the world needs right now, and I'm just doing it through food. So good. Honestly. All right, you gotta try these things. I hope you get to try these. They're amazing. And if you guys haven't already, check the link below, because I have a new website up, and I'm gonna be loading up the recipes as soon as I, I'll get to it, I swear, I promise. We're gonna be loading up the recipes, and start writing a newsletter in the next month or so, where we'll be doing tips, and hints, and techniques, and recipes that are coming up that I'm not having on the channel, or maybe news that's happening. So if you're interested, just sign up in the link below, and you don't have to worry about me sending you too much stuff. It's not me. One. Oh, good boy, good boys. Oh, good, good. Okay, guys. One more, one more. Frankie. Good boy. You guys, if you like this video, check out these videos up here, because we have a lot more coming. And I love these guys. Oh, let's go. You guys ready for your walk? You've been so patient. See you guys soon. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. All right.