Salt and pepper fried mushroom was my favorite dinning hall dish when I was in my university. I love both the crispy shell and soft mushrooms. Those fried mushrooms are served with Sichuan pepper salt (a mixture of Sichuan Pepper powder and salt). But they can go well with other powder seasonings like Chinese five spice powder and black pepper powder.
Elaine is a big fans of all kinds of mushrooms. Sometimes, I use mushrooms in soups (oyster mushroom egg drop soup), in stir fries (kung pao mushrooms) and in braised veggies (mushroom and bok choy).
Ingredient you will need
- Around 400g oyster mushrooms, remove the tough ends
- 1 egg
- 1 cup starch (I use sweet potato starch)+½ cup more if necessary
- a small pinch of salt
- a small pinch of black pepper
- oil for frying
- salt as needed
- Sichuan peppercorn powder as needed
How to make fried mushrooms
Remove the tough ends of the oyster mushroom and then split into strips around 2-3 cm wide. After cleaning, squeeze the water out.
Sprinkle starch and then add egg, salt and black pepper. Mix well. After mixing, all the oyster mushroom should be coated with a thin layer of starch mixture.
Mix salt and Sichuan peppercorn powder with a similar ratio of 1:1.
Heat around 2 cups of oil in wok and then slide the mushroom strips in for deep-frying until the surface becomes golden brown.
Serve with Sichuan peppercorn and salt.
🧾Recipe
Fried Oyster Mushroom
Ingredients
- 400 g oyster mushrooms , remove the tough ends
- 1 egg
- 1 cup starch , I use sweet potato starch
- a small pinch of salt
- a small pinch of black pepper
- oil for frying
For garnishing
- salt as needed
- Sichuan peppercorn powder as needed
Instructions
- Remove the tough ends of the oyster mushroom and then split into strips around 2-3 cm wide. After cleaning, slightly squeeze the water out.
- Sprinkle starch and then add egg, salt and black pepper. Mix well.
- Mix salt and Sichuan peppercorn powder with a similar ratio of 1:1.
- Heat around 2 cups of oil in wok and then slide the mushroom strips in for deep-frying until the surface becomes golden brown.
- Serve directly with Sichuan peppercorn salt.
Mohmoo
Thank you for sharing this recipe, I can't wait to try it out! Can you recommend any other side or main dishes that go well with this?
Elaine
You can match it salad and easy soups. My favorite is Chinese tomato and egg drop soup.
Joyce
Any substitutes for sweet potato starch?
Elaine
You can use cornstarch or potato starch as a sub.
Gem
Any ideas on what I can substitute the egg with to make this vegan? 🙂
Elaine
You can skip Gem and use a regular batter for this one by adding a small amount of baking powder.
Ronny
These were awesome. Used potato starch because that's what I had. Best way to eat these mushrooms!
Elaine
Thanks Ronny. This is the hidden star. I get lots of positive feedback. Happy cooking!
Scott
You’re a lifesaver! I had these at least weekly when I worked in Taiyuan, China, and I despaired of finding them again.
Elaine
Haha, I know how good this one is. Nice to see you find it. Happy cooking!!
Christine
I tried this and it was very nice. I used 380 grams of mushrooms but with just one egg and one cup of starch, there was a lot of dry starch left so I had to add an extra egg and about 1/3 cup water to have all the mushrooms coated like in your picture. I like the ease of just mixing everything together and fry instead of the usual dry wet dry steps. I will also cut more of the stem off because like you said, it was a little tough. Overall a delicious dish, thanks for sharing!
Elaine
Thank you, Christine.
Ellen
Hi Elaine, can I use plain flour as my starch?
Elaine
Yes, if no starch available, you can use flour.