Lion's Mane Mushroom Steak 🟢 with Pea and Garlic Butter
Lion’s mane mushroom steak with pea and garlic butter.
Lion's Mane Mushroom Steak 🟢 with Pea and Garlic Butter
Your eyes do not deceive you! This is 100% lion’s mane mushroom and 100% vegan. The best part: it’s super easy and super delicious! But what is lion’s mane?
Lion’s mane mushroom
The lion’s mane or Hericium erinaceus is a spectacular shroom when fresh, looking indeed like the white mane of some ghost lion. It’s touted for its medicinal qualities but it is also a gastronomic delight. Its flavour is has been likened to lobster, but we’re going to be rehydrating it in a red-wine-based broth, so the flavour will be different.
For our purposes we’re using the dried, whole mushroom, which is considerably smaller and lighter to begin with. I ordered a big jar of these online from Germany as I haven’t yet found a closer supplier.
Below you can see the fresh mushroom. If you click the right-arrow, you can see how it looks when dried (first photo by Jim Champion (CC), second photo from Hawlik, where I sourced the dried mushrooms).
Credit to SauceStache
I was inspired to try cooking lion’s mane mushrooms this way after seeing the YouTuber SauceStache’s video Making Ultra Realistic Steak from a Mushroom. The process is pretty much the same except here I use a red-wine based broth and serve with my pea and garlic butter.
I’m a big fan of SauceStache’s channel and highly recommend subscribing if you’re into an experimental approach to plant-based food. He’s made steaks and bacon out of everything imaginable and his enthusiasm is infectious!
Recipe: Lion's Mane Mushroom Steak 🟢 with Pea and Garlic Butter
All measurements are level, using standardised measuring spoons and cups. Be precise!
Requirements
Small but fairly deep cooking pot (to immerse the shrooms fully in the broth) with lid
A food processor or immersion blender for the butter
Ingredients
Pea and Garlic Butter
1 cup frozen peas
50 g (refined / deodorised) coconut oil, no need to melt it
1 tbsp shiro miso (that’s the lighter coloured one)
¼ tsp fine sea salt
1 small garlic clove
Mushroom Steaks + Broth
3 or 4 dehydrated lion’s mane mushrooms
0.75 litres bouillon (vegetable stock)
1 big glass red wine
1 shallot or a small brown onion, peeled and halved straight down the root (so it stays together for easy removal).
1 big bay leaf or a couple of small ones
¼ cup soy sauce
1 big tbsp tomato paste (UK: ‘tomato puree’ / ‘concentrate’) (70 g to be precise)
½ tsp smoked paprika
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
First prepare the pea and garlic butter, if using.
In a heatproof bowl, add the peas and pour boiling water over them to thaw them. After 30 seconds or so you can drain the peas and return them to the bowl. Add all the other butter ingredients and blend. Done! Store in the fridge.Onto the mushroom steaks.
Add all the mushroom steak broth ingredients (except the mushrooms themselves) to a small but deep cooking pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a light simmer.Brush off any dirt from your dried mushrooms then place them in the broth for 30 mins with the lid on.
Note: I placed a small metal colander on top of my shrooms to keep them submerged. If you use something else for this purpose, just make sure it’s food safe and suitable to be heated. If you don’t have anything suitable, just turn the shrooms every few minutes instead.After 15 minutes, check to see that the mushrooms are still submerged. You may need to add some hot water to top off the broth.
Once the 30 minutes have elapsed, remove the shrooms and tightly squeeze them between two plates (or two cutting boards, or two pans). Even better: use a tofu press, if you have one. You want to remove all excess juice and make them flatter. Don’t worry, they’ll still be juicy and flavoursome!
Heat up some olive oil in a pan and give the steaks a nice sear to finish. No need to overdo it: they’re already cooked, after all. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the pea and garlic butter.
Tips 💡
If you want to make the garlic butter look all cute like mine, you’ll need a hemispherical silicone mould like the one I use in my vegan fried egg recipe. I placed the filled mould in the freezer for a bit until the butter was firm enough not to distort on removing it from the mould.
Save that tasty broth for another dish. For example, you could filter out the bits and turn it into a nice stew with potatoes. Slice up your seared mushrooms and add them back to the stew to serve!