What’s not to love about a Japanese inspired appetizer that you can put together in under 15 minutes? This recipe was born out of an attempt to recreate something I relished at a restaurant a couple of years ago. Recently visited the restaurant again, only to be disappointed that this gem of a mushroom appetizer was no longer on the menu. That is why I had to figure out how to make it at home! Its this perfect combination of Caramelized, Sweet and Umami flavours that compliment the natural taste of mushrooms without overpowering them in any way.
They key to getting this dish right is the balance of flavours in the glaze, and the texture of the mushrooms at the end! You want them to be cooked through, yet have a bit of bite; by no means should the mushrooms go soggy!
The original dish at the restaurant was made with Portobello mushrooms, but I’ve used button mushrooms in my homemade version since they are much easier to find at my local vegetable market. Most of the other ingredients are are easily available. As for the Miso, you should be able to order some online. Here’s a link to the miso paste used in the recipe below.
Recipe: Miso Glazed Mushrooms
Equipment
- A non-stick pan
Ingredients
- 1 pack Mushrooms [12-15 mushrooms]
- 1½ tsp Garlic [finely chopped]
- 1 Spring Onion [finely sliced]
- 2 tsps Sesame Oil
- 1½ tsp Miso paste
- 2 tsps Hot Water
- 1½ tsp Rice Wine Vinegar [substitute: regular white vinegar]
- 1½ Honey
- 1 Light Soy
- a pinch of Black Pepper [freshly crushed]
- Salt [Optional and only if needed for further seasoning]
Instructions
- Preparation: Wash and drain the mushrooms1. Chop the garlic and slice the green onion as you see in the image below. Make sure to separate the green and white parts of the spring onion while slicing.
- Combine the miso paste, water, soy, vinegar, honey and pepper in a bowl and stir vigorously until you have a homogenous sauce. Taste check and adjust the amount of honey if you find the sauce too sharp, or add a little more vinegar if it feels too sweet. Since there's both miso and light soy in the sauce it should taste salty enough; add a pinch of salt only if you feel the need to!
- Heat 2 tsps of sesame oil in a non-stick pan and sauté the chopped garlic and white bit of the spring onion for about a minute, or until lightly browned. Here's the extent to which it needs to be sautéed:
- Next add the mushrooms to the pan and stir fry on low heat2.
- Continue to cook the mushrooms until they are lightly browned. Stir intermittently to make sure they are evenly coated in the garlic and spring onion. Once slightly brown, remove the mushrooms from the pan and set them aside in a bowl.
- Add the prepared sauce to the pan and turn up the heat. You want the sauce to bubble and thicken like you see in the image below. Stir intermittently so that it does not burn. Cook the sauce for just about a minute.
- Add the mushrooms back into the pan and stir well so that they are evenly coated with the miso glaze. Sauté for an additional 30 seconds to a minute to ensure that the mushrooms are cooked through, but still have their bite. You do not want them going soggy!
- Once the mushrooms have cooked, turn the heat off and garnish with the green bits of the spring onion. Serve hot!
Recipe Notes:
1Make sure to dry the mushrooms completely so that they brown when you sauté them. Any remnant moisture will cause them to sweat and go soggy once you put them into the pan.
2Again, keep the heat on low when sautéing the mushrooms so that they don’t release additional moisture. We want them to go brown. Its also why we don’t add any salt while sautéing the mushrooms!
Let me know if you give this super-quick recipe a shot by leaving your feedback in the comments below. And check out the blog’s instagram feed for frequent recipe updates!🖖
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