SERVES : 2
COOKS IN : 20 MINUTES
DIFFICULTY : EASY

Mushrooms are not everyone’s cup of tea, but for me, they made it so much easier transitioning to a meat free diet. There are so many types of mushroom out there and can be cooked in so many different ways. They soak up flavour and can have an awesome meaty texture if you use the right type.
For this dish I’ve used shiitake, but you could use oyster, enoki or lions mane to make them extra meaty. Shiitake are probably the easiest to come by and are found in most supermarkets, however if you want to try something a bit more exotic, check out “SMITHY MUSHROOMS”.
The trick to making the mushrooms meaty is squashing them together in the pan before baking them to finish. Use a spatula or even another pan to push the mushrooms down, keep applying weight and you’ll soon be left with layered meaty mushrooms.
INGREDIENTS
- Shiitake mushrooms
- Vegetables of choice (mangetout, babycorn & pepper go really well)
- Cooked basmati rice
- Sweetcorn (optional)
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Maple syrup
- Soy sauce
HOW TO MAKE IT
1. Start by cooking the mushrooms. In a pan, fry your mushrooms in garlic, ginger, maple syrup & soy sauce. Constantly apply pressure to the mushrooms pushing them down for 5-10 minutes.
2. Bake the cooked mushrooms at a high temperature for 10 minutes while you make the rest of the dish.
3. In the same wok, throw in some sesame oil and fry your veg for a couple of minutes until softened.
4. Add your rice and a generous splash of soy sauce and continue to fry for a couple of minutes.
5. Put the rice and veg into a bowl and top with your mushrooms, salt & chilli flakes.