Kung Pao king oyster mushroom is a must try dish for those vegan spicy food lovers.
Kung pao chicken is the most popular Szechuan dish outside China. In China, we get a large group of dishes using Kung Pao sauce, for example, Kung Pao tofu, Kung Pao fish, Kung Pao sweet potato, Kung Pao Shrimp.
I am so satisfied with the taste of this kung pao king oyster mushroom and so pleased by the simple process because comparing with chicken, this is no marinating process.
King oyster mushroom is named as chicken leg mushrooms by Chinese, because it not only looks like Chicken leg but also tastes like chicken leg too. In China, Kung pao chicken is usually made with Chicken leg instead of breast.
Remove the hard ends of king oyster mushroom and then cut into dices just like chicken dices.
Prepare chili peppers, garlic and scallion, toasted peanuts and combine stir fry sauce in a small bowl.
Heat oil in wok and fry garlic, dried pepper, Sichuan peppercorn and scallion sections over slow fire until aroma.
Place the mushroom in and fry until they become soft.
Stir in stir fry sauce and continue frying for 1 minute until the sauce is well thickened.
Add toasted peanuts, give a big stir fry to mix everything well.
Serve with steamed rice.
- 3 large king oyster mushrooms , or 4 smaller ones
- 1/2 cup of toasted or fried skinless peanuts
- 1 scallion , only white part, cut into small pieces around 1cm thick
- 6-10 dried chili peppers , change the amount according how hot you wish it to be
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 15-20 whole Sichuan peppercorns
- 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 inch ginger grated
- 1 tablespoon chopped green onion
- 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
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Remove the hard ends of king oyster mushroom and then cut into dices just like chicken dices.
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Prepare chili peppers, garlic and scallion; toasted peanuts and combine stir fry sauce in a small bowl.
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Heat oil in wok and fry garlic, dried pepper, Sichuan peppercorn and scallion sections over slow fire until aroma.
-
Place the mushroom in and fry until they become soft.
-
Stir in stir fry sauce and continue frying for 1 minute until the sauce is well thickened.
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Add toasted or fried peanuts, give a big stir fry to mix everything well. Transfer out and serve with steamed rice.
sounds great! I always appreciate your vegan recipes. thanks…
I’m looking forward to try this recipe. It really looks easy and quick. We know these mushrooms, too and call them emperors hat.
Susanne,
I am quite amazed by the taste too. My husband is watching his weight. So possibly there will be more vegan or vegetarian recipes on this blog in the near future.
A husbond watching his weight? Oh dear, you have my sympathy. That means trouble in menu planning. The recipes you post do not endanger weight. On the contrary. Either he consumes double/triple portions or he does sin otherwise. Good luck 🙂
In fact I am quite satisfied with my menu planning. But he eats outside a lot, at least 2 meals on working days. So he is slightly overweight because of the long time working and lack of sport.
I absolutely love kung pao mushrooms, my family and I enjoy it with noodles instead of rice. Have you tried? So good. Thanks for sharing.
I tried this recipe tonight and liked it very much!
Thanks for the feedback Schechter. I remember that I ate two bowls of rice with this dish.
I LOVE YOUR RECIPES. I collected all the ones I’ve made into a binder for easy retrieval (:
I have a question about the peppercorns. How do you cook them so they are not bitter when you eat it? When I leave them whole, they are too spicy and I have to avoid eating them in the dish. My solution has been to grind them up beforehand, just wondering if you had a better method.
Thank you so much and keep up the amazing work!
Hi, Janny
The situation you described really exists. I use whole Sichuan peppercorns directly in most cases, because this would be more easier to fry until aroma. Definitely you have to avoid eating them, but my husband love eating whole peppercorns very much, so I don’t pay attention to it. It will be tasteless when you use ground peppercorns. I suggest you removing the whole peppercorns after frying until aromatic.
I am another fan of your blog Elaine, thank you so much. I have finally been able to get Sichuan peppercorns and am thrilled. I have both green and black. One is perfumey and the other spicy.
I never knew how to use them. I have put them both together in a peppermill and grind over various dishes. I especially like them on my poached egg on toast. Yummy!
Yours is the first recipe I’ve seen that mentions using the peppercorns whole. Others never specify. So should I assume most other recipes also mean to use them whole?
Also which ones are you using? Green or Black?
Hi Gwen,
In most cases, I use dark red ones (possibly the black one referred by you). Using whole Sichuan peppercorn is very common in Sichuan cooking method. And whole Szechuan peppercorn brings different flavors from powder. Once tried, you will fall in love with it.
I’m excited to try this because kung pao chicken is something I’ve missed as a vegan. What do you do with the tops of the mushrooms that you dont seem to use in this?
It is spring onion circles. I just use it for decoration.