This is my absolute favorite way to prepare them and though I doubt any of us Hungry Onions would be fooled (or would want to be!), unsuspecting friends indeed thought the mushrooms were scallops. If you can find oyster sauce without oyster extract or other oyster-based ingredients, this recipe could be turned into a vegan dish, too. However, I don’t think this particular recipe fits as a side dish to your entrée. Maybe you could make it another time for a different meal.
KING OYSTER MUSHROOM SCALLOPS RECIPE (copied/pasted from the video itself…comments below in parentheses are mine)
INGREDIENTS:
King Oyster Mushrooms 3
Minced Garlic 1 tbsp
Red chili 1 (I personally don’t add this, but I can see how it could be a good addition)
Light soy sauce 1 tbsp
Oyster sauce1 tbsp
Shaoxing Wine 1 tbsp (I think sake or another similar unseasoned cooking wine would be fine)
Spring/green Onions
Fresh or even frozen scallops can be expensive here in Tokushima, so when I’m on a budget, I have no qualms about substituting king oyster or regular oyster mushrooms for scallops. And I do agree with you about the “beefiness”, etc of them.
My favorite mushroom! Have never seen them already sliced, though.
Did you see this earlier thread?
The miso butter would work really nicely on them – saute them first, then finish with the compound butter.
The way I most often make them, though, is yakitori-style (but on a fry pan). Tare sauce here but you can use commercial teriyaki or oyster / stir-fry sauce. Pictured here and here.
Oy. Did not know this… may have to share with my vegetarian fam whose favorite this also is
1 Like
CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
14
Thanks, I had not seen that thread. I did a search of threads before posting, but did not know that these “oyster” mushrooms were the same as the “trumpet” mushrooms in that thread.
You mentioned access to a Korean market elsewhere – they have inexpensive packages of the smaller ones as well as the big ones, and just yesterday I saw bags of baby-sized ones (smaller than my little finger). Similar selection at Chinese supermarkets near me, where they’re also sold loose.
“King” oysters / Eryngi used to be more commonly called trumpets or horns a while back, when they were mostly seen in French dishes (kind of like maitake used to be known mostly as hen-of-the-woods).
(Oyster mushrooms are a different variety of course, as I’m sure you’ve encountered before.)
I was surprised to see king oyster mushrooms (labeled “King Trumpet Mushrooms”) at my local Raley’s supermarket yesterday. I think they were something like $12-13/lb. I do like them, but at that price, I’ll just buy a steak and call it a day.
As I mentioned further upthread, they are usually dirt cheap at most Asian grocers. Wegmans sells the sliced ones for triple the price. I prefer to buy mine whole for less, and slice them myself in the thickness required for whichever dish I plan on making.
Don’t get me started on just how expensive those mofos are in my homeland, as growing them is allegedly more difficult than others .
I never buy them there, since they’re so much cheaper stateside. I prefer to spend my money on the abundant chanterelles, which are in season in June, and sometimes luck out on porcini as well.
Yeah, when I need them, I buy them at a local Asian supermarket (I have at least four from which to choose, plus a mostly Asian farmers market that is so good it’s been featured in Sunset Magazine). I don’t honestly know what kind of prices I pay at those, because (a) it’s been a long time and (b) when I need them, I need them. Raley’s is not the kind of store I buy Asian goods because I expect them to charge a premium for them.
And specialty mushrooms are going to be more expensive in general.
Let’s not get sidetracked by why beef (or pork or chicken) is so cheap in the US, because that’s not a good benchmark for anything.
And because I just shopped for various mushrooms, here’s some price comparisons between Korean and Chinese stores near me vs. Whole Foods (the most reliable “regular” store source of exotic mushroom varieties near me).
King oysters: $6 / package of 10 oz for the big ones or $2-3 / package of 3-4 oz of the smaller ones, so $9-12 / lb
—- vs $10 - 20 / lb regular loose vs organic packaged
Maitakes: $5 / 3.5 oz package ie $23 / lb
—- vs $6 / 4 oz package ie $24 / lb
You can also get alot more (volume wise) mushrooms than beef pound for pound.
When it comes to exotic shrooms, like King Oysters or Lions Mane, their QPR is definitely higher than regular supermarket beef (i.e., regular corn fed, non-heritage choice grade beef)
I’m not claiming that there’s logic to my position, but at the same store the same week I saw the mushrooms for $12-13/lb, their weekly circular had choice top sirloin for about $5/lb. My feeble brain sees those prices and gravitates strongly toward the top sirloin given the choice. (I bought neither: I was there for milk.)
4 Likes
CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
24
You guys discussing prices reminded me to pay attention when I got another package of these king oyster/trumpet mushroom slices last night.
These are in 4-oz packages for $4.79, so roughly $23 per pound. In another thread I complained about not wanting to make the trek to the nearest Asian mart for things I can’t get at regular groceries, but if I’m still liking these things next week as much as I am right now, that $23/lb might make my mind up for me.
You really, really should. Then you can slice them to your desired thickness (sometimes I just cut them in half and do the diamond cross cut before grilling the halves), and at a fragment of that price.
I’ve seen some that were the size of an infant’s arm!
Actually @CCE i posted the prices because I was surprised that there was not as much of a difference per lb in price around me as I had automatically assumed.
Ymmv of course (but may have to factor in gas, travel, and the rest — for me it’s a subway ride, but I’m not going to spend $6 rt to save $3/lb on 1/2 lb of mushrooms )
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— for me it’s a subway ride, but I’m not going to spend $6 rt to save $3/lb on 1/2 lb of mushrooms 
)