Vegan King Oyster Mushroom Scallops with Parsnips Three Ways
These King Oyster Mushroom Scallops have been transformed into a restaurant quality dish, perfect for your next dinner party.
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The rule of 3
I learnt a lot during our trip to Japan, but nothing more important than the rule of 3. While enjoying a beautiful vegan bento that had been prepared by our host, he explained that he never included more than 3 elements in a dish so that each element could shine. Every mouthful we ate was so simple and pure, and he was right. You can taste absolutely every ingredient he had chosen. As a rule for cooking, it just made sense.
When I decided to start sharing some vegan “fine dining” recipes on the blog I decided to stick to that principle as far as I possibly could. So today I’m sharing a recipe which celebrates the king oyster mushroom, parsnips and kale. The king oyster mushrooms have been cleverly prepared so that they have the flavour texture of a scallop. They are salty like the sea yet mild and creamy. They bounce and squidge like a scallop too. I’ve prepared the parsnip three ways (sautéed, pureed and as a crisp). The kale has simply been wilted. Uncomplicated is always best.
King oyster mushrooms, kale and parsnips are all in season as we move into autumn and winter which means this is the perfect dish to serve as a starter at a Sunday lunch, on Thanksgiving or even at Christmas. Your non-vegan friends and family will be so surprised that there’s no seafood or dairy in sight!
Doesn’t it look pretty too? The plating isn’t as hard as it looks. A big dollop of the puree gets spread in a crescent shape across the plate. I’ve even stuck to the rule of 3 when plating up by using three pieces of king oyster mushroom! I deliberately chose a big, medium, and small piece of mushroom as I thought it would look pretty for them to be descending in size. The kale adds a lovely splash of colour and along with the parsnip crisps and sautéed parsnip cubes there’s lots of shape and texture on the plate too.
Making vegan king oyster mushroom scallops
Sometimes I think there is nothing mushrooms can’t do. They come in all shapes and sizes with different flavour profiles and because of this they lend themselves so well to creating vegan dishes that mimic meat and fish.
I’ve used mushrooms to mimic a wide range of things, from crispy “duck” to use in Chinese pancakes to crispy “chicken” satay skewers. They are a great alternative to using processed mock meat and fish or seitan.
But, one of my favourite things to make out of mushrooms is scallops. And the most important thing about making these vegan scallops is the marinade. By soaking them in a warm broth they absorb all of the fishy flavours that we’ve created and they plump up, just like a juicy scallop. When cooked some of this marinade releases and creates a lovely caramelised ring around the mushroom which means they look just like a cooked scallop! It’s so clever.
The ingredients we use to create the fishy marinade are:
- Water
- White miso paste
- Vegetarian fish sauce (alternatively use 1 tbsp tamari and a splash of lemon juice)
- Light soy sauce; and
- Dried seaweed flakes
They are ingredients you’ll find in your local Asian supermarket though increasingly they are being sold in larger supermarkets too.
When combined together these are the secret to getting that fishy flavour into the scallops. All you need to do then is cook them to perfection. Simple.
I hope this inspires you to create restaurant quality vegan food at home!
The recipe
Vegan King Oyster Mushroom Scallops with Parsnips Three Ways
Ingredients
- 4 king oyster mushrooms stems only
- 250 millilitres water freshly boiled
- 1.5 tsp white miso paste
- 1 tbsp vegetarian fish sauce (alternatively use 1 tbsp tamari and a splash of lemon juice)
- 1.5 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp dried seaweed flakes
For the rest of the dish
- 4 parsnips
- 2 cloves garlic one kept whole, one minced
- 250 millilitres non-dairy single cream (e.g. Oatly or Elmlee Plant Based)
- 100 grams non-dairy butter
- 3 tsp olive oil
- 1 bunch kale
- salt
- pepper
- vegan parmesan optional
Instructions
To make the "scallops"
- Cut the stems of your king oyster mushrooms into 3 or 4 pieces, roughly the size of a scallop (e.g. 1 -1.5 inches).
- In a shallow bowl, mix together the warm water, miso paste, “fish” sauce, soy sauce and sea weed flakes.
- Submerge the “scallop” pieces in this broth and leave to sit for at least 30 minutes. You can continue making the rest of the dish in this time.
To make the rest of the dish
- While the “scallops” are soaking in the broth, peel 2 of the parsnips and place the peelings to one side – do not throw them away!
- Chop the peeled parsnips into large chunks and add to a saucepan with the non-dairy cream, a whole garlic clove and half of the non-dairy butter.
- Place on a low heat until the butter has melted.
- Turn it to a medium heat and let simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the parsnips have softened and the liquid has reduced by half.
- While the parsnips for the puree are simmering, toss the parsnip peelings in a tsp of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Place these on a baking tray and bake for 10 -15 minutes at gas mark 3 or until they have begun to brown around the edges.
- In the meantime, dice the remaining two parsnips until small cubes.
- Melt another third of the butter and a tsp of oil in a pan and sautee the parsnip cubes until their edges are brown and crisp.
- Pour the contents of the saucepan into a blender and blitz until smooth. Season to taste with a little salt and pepper.
- Now that all of the parsnip components are cooked (see note 1), melt the remaining butter and olive oil in a pan.
- Remove the mushroom “scallops” from their broth and add to the pan.
- Turn the heat to high and let the scallops cook for 3 – 5 minutes or until they are cooked through and their bottoms have caramelised.
- Turn-over and cook for another 3-5 minutes on this side.
- Finally, add the kale to the pan until just wilted.
To assemble
- Serve by adding a large spoonful of the puree to the plate, followed by the “scallops”.
- Next add the kale, parsnip cubes and lastly the parsnip crisps.
- Add a sprinkling of vegan parmesan if you wish.
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