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Braised Mushroom- How to prepare with 4 simple steps

Braised mushroom 蠔油燜冬菇 is a traditional Chinese cuisine that can grace the banquet and also serves as an everyday dish at home.

The Chinese cooked dried shiitake mushrooms in many ways.  Among all, braised Shiitake mushroom with oyster sauce is the easiest dish to prepare.

The braising method is straightforward.  The only setback is you need time to braise the mushroom.  You only need to ensure sufficient water in the pot for braising. The actual preparation time is relatively short.

Here is the step-by-step instruction on how to prepare braised mushrooms with oyster sauce.

Braised Shiitake Mushrooms 蠔油燜冬菇 is a traditional Chinese cuisine that can grace the banquet and also serves as the everyday dish at home.  The Chinese cooked dried shiitake mushrooms in many ways.  Among all, braised Shiitake mushroom with oyster sauce is the easiest dish to prepare.

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The step-by-step guide- How to braise mushroom with oyster sauce

1. Choice of  mushrooms

Choose the Shitake mushroom that is medium to large size, with a thick mushroom cap.  These mushrooms have a firm texture and the ability to absorb lots of gravy, and that means plenty of flavors.

Fresh shitake mushrooms do not taste as good as dried, dehydrated ones.  The fresh mushrooms are too soft and will break after prolonged braising. They are also not as fragrant compared to dried mushrooms.

I suggest you not substitute the dried Shitake mushroom with other mushrooms.   They have a unique aroma that sets them apart from others. Braised button mushrooms and king oyster mushrooms do not taste as good as the dry shiitake mushrooms.

2. Soak the mushrooms

Clean the dried shitake mushrooms. Soak it in water overnight or for up to a day until they are adequately hydrated.  How long it takes to rehydrate depends on the size and thickness of the mushrooms. It is a good idea to soak it the night before cooking, as they will not get oversoaked. However, if you are short of time, you can soak the dry shiitake mushroom in hot water. The time required to get hydrated will be much faster. Interestingly, fresh shiitake mushrooms do not taste as good as the dry shiitake mushrooms.

Dried shiitake mushrooms that are not adequately soaked take much longer time to braise until sufficiently soft and tender. It is also hard to cut off the dry and hard stem.

After removing the stem, clean the mushroom, and it is ready for braising.  Do not cut the mushrooms. They should be braised and eventually served uncut.

Keep the water after soaking the mushrooms.  The soaking water contains loads of flavor diffused from the mushrooms, which is ideal for use as the braising liquid.  Discard the sediment at the bottom of the water, as it may contain some sand.

3. Prepare the aromatics

This dish has three aromatic ingredients- ginger, garlic, and scallion for this braised mushroom dish.

Ginger. You may slice or cut the ginger into small dice. However, since I only want the flavor of ginger, I would prefer coarsely chopped ginger instead.  Saute the ginger until it turns fragrant.

Garlic. Bash a few cloves of garlic with the back of the knife.  Add the garlic to the ginger and continue sauteing. We add the garlic only the ginger starts to turn aromatic because garlic tends to brown much faster than ginger.  Saute over low to medium heat for another one minute.

Scallion Cut the scallion into 5cm sections and add garlic and ginger.  Try to use the white instead of the green section since it is more aromatic.

Braised Shiitake Mushrooms 蠔油燜冬菇 is a traditional Chinese cuisine that can grace the banquet and also serves as the everyday dish at home.  The Chinese cooked dried shiitake mushrooms in many ways.  Among all, braised Shiitake mushroom with oyster sauce is the easiest dish to prepare.

4. Braised the dried Chinese mushrooms with low heat

Add adequately hydrated Shitake mushrooms to the pan or a Dutch oven.  Add water (or stock), Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, rock sugar, light soy sauce, and dark soy sauce.  Bring the braising liquid to a boil. Cover and continue braising the mushroom over lowest heat.

Shitake mushrooms and oyster sauce are tested combinations that yield the best mouth-watering flavor. Of course, the flavor is even better by using a good quality oyster sauce.  However, you can use the mushroom extract, aka Vegetarian Oyster Sauce, as the substitute.

The vegetarian oyster sauce is developed to cater to the need of the vegetarian.  The main ingredient of this sauce is mushroom extract with a texture and flavor that resemble the ‘real’ oyster sauce.  The taste may not be as intense as the original oyster sauce, but it conveniently makes it suitable for vegetarians.

Braising will let the mushrooms absorb all the flavor released by the aromatics and from the seasonings. The process concentrates the flavor to become a thick gravy eventually.

How long it takes to braise depends on the size and thickness of the mushrooms. Generally, it will need about forty-five minutes to one hour until the mushrooms are soft and tender. It is crucial to braise the mushrooms until soft and tender. Add some boiling water to continue browsing if necessary.

Thicken with cornstarch slurry

Add the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce when the mushrooms are soft, and the braising liquid has reduced to about 1/4 cup.  Constitute the cornstarch slurry by mixing one teaspoon of cornstarch with one tablespoon of water. Add half to the mushroom and keep stirring until the cornstarch thickens the liquid.  You may not need to add the remainder if it is already thick enough.

Once the gravy is thick enough, stop adding the remaining cornstarch slurry. Add a teaspoon of sesame oil and mix well. (Optional) Remove from heat as further heating will dry up the gravy.

Do you want to try another mushroom dish stir fry I recently uploaded? It is prepared with shitake, king oyster, and shimeiji mushroom. Click here to get the recipe.

Blanch the broccoli

It is a good idea to blanch some broccoli to serve along with the braised mushroom with oyster sauce. Broccoli is ideal because it has a vibrant color and a crunchy contrast to the mushrooms’ soft texture.  It also soaks up any excess mushroom gravy to make it incredibly delicious.

  • Cut the broccoli into large florets.
  • Prepare a pot of boiling water.
  • Add a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of sugar, and some cooking oil.
  • Blanch the broccoli in boiling water for three to four minutes until soft.  It is cooked when the fork’s tines can easily slip out from the florets after being inserted into it.
  • Drain the broccoli florets in a colander to remove the excess water.
  • Place the braised mushroom at the center of a plate and surround it with the broccoli florets. Serve.

You can also steam the broccoli If you are concerned that blanching will affect its nutritional value.

Braised mushroom with black moss (fat choy) is one of the auspicious dishes served during Chinese New Year.

braised mushropm recipe

Braised mushroom with oyster sauce

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Braised Shiitake Mushrooms is a traditional Chinese cuisine that can grace the banquet and also serves as the everyday dish at home.

The Chinese cooked dried shiitake mushrooms in many ways. Among all, braised Shiitake mushroom with oyster sauce is the easiest dish to prepare.

Ingredients

Instructions

For the mushrooms

  1. Clean the dried shitake mushrooms. Soak it in water overnight or up to a day until they are adequately hydrated.
  2. Remove the stem and clean the mushroom. Keep the water used to soak the mushroom for braising in the next step.
  3. Cut the ginger into small dice, bash the garlic cloves with the back of the knife, and cut the scallion into 5cm sections.
  4. Add some cooking into the pan, saute the ginger until for a minute, then add the garlic to saute further until aromatic and turn slightly brown.
  5. Add the scallion, mushrooms, water (or stock), wine, oyster sauce, rock sugar, light, and dark soy sauce. Bring the braising liquid to a boil, then continue to braise the mushroom with minimum heat with the lid on. It will take half to one hour depends on the size and thickness of the mushrooms.
  6. Braise the mushroom until soft and tender. Add some boiling water to continue browsing if necessary.
  7. When the braising liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup, add the cornflour slurry to thicken the sauce.
  8. Remove the mushrooms and serve.

For the broccoli

  1. Cut the broccoli into large florets.
  2. Add a teaspoon of salt to a pot of boiling water. Blanch the broccoli for about four minutes until soft.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 4 servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 196Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 734mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 5gSugar: 3gProtein: 5g

This data was provided and calculated by Nutrionix on 6/24/2019

MARIA ABDULLAH

Sunday 14th of February 2021

KP Kwan, I cook your braised mushroom and its was delicious. Thank you so much.

KP Kwan

Monday 15th of February 2021

Great to know that it works :)

Aileen Tan

Thursday 28th of January 2021

Dear K P Kwan, Appreciate your reply to my question below, thank you.

Can I braise mushrooms to prepare for Chinese New Year dishes ? Someone shared information to freeze braised mushrooms in the freezer for consumption : my question is “ I am told that food like cooked mushrooms, black fungus, white fungus, cloud ears all these are not advisable to keep for a few days as it may be poisonous to our liver.

KP Kwan

Friday 29th of January 2021

Hi Aileen, It should be no problem to freeze the cooked braised mushrooms in advance. I have not read any credible reference mentioned that it could turn poisonous if cooked and frozen. If you come across such sources of information, I would love to get into the detail. Thanks. KP Kwan

KP Kwan

Monday 24th of June 2019

Hi, this is KP Kwan. I am happy to see you in this comment area, as you have read through my recipe. I am happy to reply to any questions and comments as soon as possible.

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