I’m experimenting different ways I can cook with king oyster mushrooms since my folks told me these mushrooms are often use as a meat substitute for vegetarian dishes. So in this experimental recipe, I decided to substitute the chicken in a comfort food cuisine I normally use with king oyster mushrooms just to cure my curiosity. Lets face the truth, meat is meat, no matter how this mushroom is cooked, it’s not going to taste like actual meat (chicken as most folks have told me). Although I do agree it does absorbs the flavor well.

Note: I stamped the time in the images to give you an idea how long I sauté the mushrooms before I added the water spinach. I’ll have to go back to update and add all the photos next time I cook this dish again.

FYI: My Vietnamese stir fry lemongrass and chili pepper recipe using chicken is at https://mamasnowcooks.com/2016/10/28/ga-xao-sa-ot-recipe/.

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 25 minutes
• Serving: It’s a good side dish but I ate half of this batch as a meal. So serving size is a joke to me.

(insert image of all ingredients here)

Ingredients:

• 5-7 king oyster mushrooms
• 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 cup finely minced lemongrass (frozen or fresh)
• 3-5 Thai chili peppers
• 1 to 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 Tbsp Viet Huong fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp pure cane sugar (light yellow)
• 1 bag of water spinach
• 1 cup Chaokoh pure coconut water
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Direction:

1. Prep the water spinach and strain it in a colander. Slice the king oyster mushrooms into thin 1/4-inch thick strips. Mince the garlic and chop the chili peppers.

2. Heat up wok. (I love my 14-inch Hexclad wok!) Add the oil and sizzle the minced garlic together with the minced lemongrass and chopped chili peppers for about a minute or two on medium high heat. (I use medium high heat only when using my Hexclad wok because it heats up quick and hotter than my regular pans I have used before.)

(insert photo here)

3. Quickly add in the sliced king oyster mushrooms with one tablespoon of dark soy sauce. Stir it up well for about one minute.

(insert photo here)

4. Add 4 tablespoon fish sauce, 2 tablespoon yellow sugar, black pepper, and one cup of pure coconut water. Sauté the mushrooms for about 20 minutes until the sauce thickens up.

5. Turn heat to medium and braise the king oyster mushrooms for about 20 minutes or until the sauce thickens up.

5. When most of the sauce has thickens up, turn the heat on high and quickly add in the water spinach. Make sure the water spinach is not wet or else the dish becomes too watery. Stir fry for about three minutes. Turn off the heat and serve with steamed jasmine rice.