This recipe is designed to help tide me over until I have time to blog about our Thanksgiving capers in Kentucky . . . a gorgeous photo shoot with my pregnant sister . . . my fabulous weekend trip to the Pioneer Woman’s ranch . . . and that gig Sunday night with my friend Carrie. So much to say! So many pictures to process! Soon Christmas adventures will be added to the list and my head just might explode. With joy. Good, old fashioned, blogging overload joy.
In the meantime, I thought I’d share this versatile little number with you. To the mushroom haters in the crowd: have you considered mushroom rehab? Where you work towards liking this fungus in a 30-day program? I hear there’s a similar program for blue cheese haters.
It’s just something to think about, you know. No need to get all defensive there. The little fungus guys and the moldy cheese should be welcomed into your home this Christmas season, not rejected and left out to freeze in a snow bank.
Anyway, enough proselitizing. This is super quick to toss together. It can be a delightful side dish, or it can be a main dish, piled on some rice with two fried eggs on top. I found the original recipe via TastyKitchen from food blogger Fuji Mama, but I couldn’t resist adding a little garlic. Just make sure to eat it with piles upon piles of white rice–that alone will make your life complete.
Ingredients
(Serves 3 as a side dish)
8 oz mushrooms, chopped (any kind works–I used Portobellini)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 TBS sesame oil
1 TBS soy sauce (to taste)
2 green onions, for garnish (optional)
2 TBS rice wine vinegar
1 TBS sugar
pinch salt
2 eggs (optional)
First, wipe the mushrooms clean. Would you look at this beauty? Oh my.
I love mushrooms.
Oh wait, have I already said that? Like, a million times? Sorry.
I’ll try to be more interesting. And say things that are more unexpected.
As the punches swung right and left and the plate of stuffed mushrooms went flying across the reception hall, Marissa used her volleyball skills from 20 years prior to make a body dive across the slippery floor–not a single mushroom could go to waste! Leroy knew it was true love when he saw the concentration in her beautiful face, and the athletic arm-reach that enabled the platter of delicious little appetizers to land safely on her upturned palm. Then in a fit of love he cried “Marry me Marissa! We shall serve stuffed mushrooms at our wedding, and make them a cornerstone of our hearth and home!”
See? ‘Surprise’ is my middle name.
Slice them up.
This would also be a good time to mince the garlic.
Heat the sesame oil in a skillet over medium-high heat for a couple minutes. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and garlic.
Fry for 5 minutes. Don’t be like me and overcrowd the pot/pan . . . it will slow the process down significantly. In these pictures you can see that I had doubled the recipe, but I should have spread the mushrooms out into two skillets. If not, you can get in the way of the browning.
Add the soy sauce and continue to fry until golden and delicious, about 5-8 more minutes.
While the mushrooms are cooking, heat the rice vinegar, sugar, and pinch of salt in a little bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Stir to dissolve.
Bam! You just made something called ‘amazu’ (the sweet and sour sauce). Don’t you feel international?
Toss the cooked mushrooms in the amazu (the vinegar mixture) and serve!
Yum!
If you want to top the mushrooms with eggs to make it into a meal, fry the eggs in a tablespoon of oil and drizzle some seasoning on top: hot sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, or dark sweet soy sauce (kecap manis, which is what I used below) and a minced green onion.
About a week prior, I made this dish with a mixture of white beech, shiitake, and enoki mushrooms.
It was delicious, but the texture of cooked enoki gave me the eebly jeeblies.
Doesn’t it look like . . . alien innards?
I loved it the first day . . .
. . . but after a night in the refrigerator, I couldn’t bring myself to revisit it. The words ‘cold’ and ‘slimy’ did it to me.
So let’s go back to our friendly Portobellini–a little less photogenic, but so much friendlier after refrigeration!
I also want to make this with crimini mushrooms. And shiitake mushrooms. And oyster mushrooms. It’s so basic, and quick, and easy, and tasty–all mushrooms must be allowed to participate.
Click here for printer-friendly version: Sweet and Sour Mushrooms
Wow I just love mushroom… and this stir fry mushroom on rice sounds like my kind of food. It sounds so delicious and comforting 🙂
There are some people who don’t like dogs.
I don’t trust them.
Ditto the shroom and blue cheese haters …
This does look good, I may need to visit that mushroom rehab you were mentioning, though, in my defense, I do love blue cheese
Me, too. Although my Hubby would grin for days if I made this for him.
SO?! How was the singing gig?
The singing gig was AWESOME!! =) Thanks for asking . . . Somebody took some video, so as soon as I figure out where that’s posted, I’ll link to it so y’all can check out some snippets of the performance. I also asked my friend Cassia to take some pictures, which I also hope to share soon.
Well–you get a free pass on the blue cheese thang because you’re awesome. But only you!! =)
That looks awesome! But I am DYING to hear how things went at Ree’s!! DY-ing.
I’m dying to talk about it . . . but I may not have time to process pix until a little later this week. Until then, Ree (who is all over things) has already posted about it on her blog: http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2010/12/unintended-consequences/
Don’t know how she does it . . . =)
And lest I forget there’s also: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/12/decorated-christmas-cookies/
ooooh these look great! can’t wait to hear about PW 🙂
I love mushrooms. Sweet and sour is a favorite, too. How could I not like this recipe? Thank you for sharing…
These mushrooms look so amazing. But I just read about the PW trip!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
they do look a little like alien inards… but delicious ones!
so glad you made this… i saw this and was waiting to see if anyone else would make it and rave!
isn’t it awesome how you don’t need meat in everything you eat? Really appreciate you putting up this recipe. (My mouth is watering)
Jennaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! I just saw you on PW Cooks! It was such a trip to see your face on her blog. I can’t wait to hear about it.
P.S. I know you’re always concerned about your smile so I hope you agree that your smile in the picture was wonderful!!
Agreed–I was OK with it. =) I have tons of pictures to share and I can’t hardly wait!!
These look great! Look forward to your post about Pioneer Woman and your gig.
Jenna, I’m SO HAPPY you had a great weekend at P-Dub’s! I was perusing the pics to day with my friend, who felt mortally offended that she didn’t get picked by her BFF out of 40,000. The nerve!
This dish looks phenomenal too! Sometimes I just don’t feel like cooking up any kind of meat, and I had never thought about going sweet-and-sour with mushrooms. I’m intrigued…and hungry.
These mushrooms are prepared with so much care and their flavor is beckoning me for afar! why in the world do I always forget to get mushrooms? I need to right now!
Wow, the mushrooms look delicious…love both dishes 🙂 Great photos as well.
Just saw the pics on PW’s website. So weird to think that you and your mom have actually been there, met her, and eaten her food… But it’s a good kind of weird 🙂
I agree. Weird, weird, weird. The pictures still make me wig out a little bit.
“in a fit of love”
“alien innards”
Oh, Jenna …I adore you! And this looks delish. I’m thinking lunch!
I’m pretty much loving this recipe, it looks scrumptious!
Those mushrooms are fabulous! (I think I’d like the portobellinis the best of all.) Can’t wait to hear about your trip! 🙂
I went home and made this on Monday night for dinner. I bought two packages of mushrooms and planned on just making one, but while my rice was still cooking, I tasted a mushroom and I was done. I had to make the other package. My boyfriend is so silly b/c he said it was too vinegary. Obviously he’s insane. I thought it was awesome. And the eggs on top? Perfection.
Have I mentioned how much I love that you love eggs and white rice? It makes my dinner planning so much easier!!
I’m glad you liked it Giselle! If you make it again, you can always add the amazu sauce to taste for each person–that way your boyfriend doesn’t feel like he’s getting a mouthful of vinegar. =)