dunno if ive mentioned it yet, but ive been going to an asian market lately for produce. theyre got some great stuff there you cant find anywhere else, and good prices on other stuff that you can. one of the things i found there is king oyster mushrooms, which are large mushrooms that are mostly stem, which is the edible part, unlike many other mushrooms that have a tough stem, or the stem is secondary. theyre about 5-6 inches long and 1-2 inches thick. i saw them and thought to myself, hey, i bet if sliced them horizontally theyd look like scallops. indeed, after looking them up online, i saw that another name for them is scallop mushrooms. personally, im not a big mushroom fan, but my wife, daughter and mom (came to visit) loved them.

if desired, give them a quick rinse to remove any dirt. take a lil off the top (for looks) and a bit off the bottom (gets a lil tougher towards the root) and then slice into 3/4 inch thick rounds. lay them on a plate and spray with a lil oil then sprinkle with salt, pepper and granulated onion. do both sides.

heat some olive oil over med-high heat in a pan. (not too much, as the mushrooms will soak it up.) lay the mushrooms in the pan in a single layer, and cook, swirling them around now and then.

when the bottom is nicely browned, flip them and add a bit more oil. (since what was there previously was soaked up by the mushrooms)

when the other side has just started to brown, turn heat to high and add some minced garlic, 1-2 cloves per whole mushroom. cook, swirling more frequently now.

after the bottoms have finished browning, add soem white wine. i used chablis. allow to reduce a bit and then add some chopped fresh cilantro and toss to coat everything.

serve and enjoy.

I'm gonna have to try that, I love that kind of thing, disguising one thing as another.

Also Asian markets are awesome for so many reasons, so many unique cuts of meat that you'll never find at a supermarket as well.

they dont have a very strong taste by themselves so i usually stir fry them with other meats and veg.

they do well in noodle soups too.

some other asian market stuff you should try:

baby bok choi
chinese broccoli
jufran banana sauce, i get the spicy version (its like ketchup)
experiment with various chilli oils and chilli + bean sauces
wood ear mushroom

This post was edited by winterschapel on Apr 24 2013 08:40am

never really looked at the meats, i mostly go for the produce, as well as a few other things like mirin and rice.





for stir fyrs i ususally use the flower shiitake mushrooms. they have a really nice flavor, my wife loves those too since i started buying them there. the regular shiitake you get in western martkets dont compare. ill even eat em, and i usually pick out mushrooms.

i think ive gotten baby bok choy before, but i dont really eat broccoli. other stuff ive tried is bitter melon, fuzzy melon, asian eggplant, nagaimo, green radish and probably some other stuff im forgetting.

banana ketchup sounds interesting. oils ive looked at a bit, i found toasted sesame oil for about 1/8 the price i can get it for at other stores. awesome.

/e oh yeah, i tried durian (have a thread on that one) and dragon fruit. the dragon fruit was fantastic, i think itd make a great sorbet.

This post was edited by ReturnFormer on Apr 24 2013 01:17pm

i finally got around to taking a pic:




"Scallops", onion soubise and green radish.

Not sure why vegans want everything to look like meat, kinda seems like they crave it.

im not a vegan, just called them that to emphasize that theyre not actually scallops. simpler than calling them "scallops that arent really scallops". i wanted to make something that looked like scallops but wasnt.

wow you really did make them look like scallops; i usually have trouble browning any sort of mushroom.

if you really want to try a unique mushroom though, i highly recommend woodear, it's really unlike anything and has a really good flavour.

because of the high water content, mushrooms take a while to brown, but it does happen eventually. i cooked these over medium-high heat for about 5-6 minutes each side, i think.


ive read about woodear, been keen to try em. havent seen em around here, not fresh, anyway.

dont be silly, even i cant find the "fresh" stuff.

im pretty sure 98% of it is going to be the dried version in little plastic bricks. just soak a package in some room temp water for 30 mins and you can add it to stir frys, noodle soups, or make it in a dish called kao fu.