King Oyster Mushrooms Grown by Dart Valley Fungi at Totnes, Devon

£6.75 / 200g

About

These special King Oyster mushrooms are hailed for their dense, meaty texture and depth of savoury flavour. They’ve become the darlings of vegan cookery in the last few years, often billed on restaurant menus as ‘mushroom steaks’ or ‘vegan scallops’.

If you’re using them to add a hearty bite to plant-based dishes, make sure to use the whole thing; the stalks aren’t tough or woody at all, and are where much of the best texture lies. Once cooked, their natural umami flavour will be unleashed.

These mushrooms are grown on a carefully crafted substrate made from wood fibres (sourced from the sawdust of a local yurt maker) and bran (obtained from a nearby granary).

Country of origin

Produced in

The UK

How to prepare

Much of their prized texture lies in the stalks, so make sure you use the whole thing. You can use them just as you would normal mushrooms; slice and fry in oil or butter until deeply coloured. They’ll take a little longer to cook than other mushrooms (about 6-7 mins), and won’t wilt nearly as much.

They’ll roast well, too. Try halving them lengthways and scoring a criss-cross pattern into the cut side before roasting; it allows the heat to penetrate, but also allows you to baste them in oil, herbs, and aromatics while they roast and turn golden.

A popular way to prepare them is to slice the stalks into thick pieces, lengthways or crossways, and then lightly poach them in a flavourful stock for a few minutes. Those pieces can then be pan-fried or BBQ’d.

If you’re looking to use your mushrooms to add meaty texture to plant-based dishes, the stalk can be shredded with the tines of a fork before frying, or braising into a sauce. The ibres hold their shape once cooked, and give a texture similar to pulled pork.

Storage

Keep in the fridge and aim to eat them within a few days.

Grown by Dart Valley Fungi, Totnes, Devon

At Dart Valley Fungi, just over the hill from our farm in Devon, Mic Eaton and Luke Watson grow an incredible variety of gourmet mushrooms. Using upcycled agricultural waste, their barn has been specially adapted to create an ideal environment for all sorts of unusual fungi varieties.