Teriyaki Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms

Have you ever had Chinese-style baked stuffed mushrooms? When I was growing up, it was a popular appetizer at Chinese and tiki restaurants my family frequented. Usually filled with a sesame-accented pork filling that became caramelized in the oven, these bite-sized morsels were hard to resist.

With February designated as National Snack Food month, I decided to create a similar dish using Soy Vay® Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce, a thick flavorful sauce with plenty of sesame oil and sesame seeds. (I started my partnership with Soy Vay last month and have been experimenting with a few of their sauces.) Instead of pork, I decided to use ground chicken as a mushroom filling. For the flavoring, I just added minced ginger, scallions, and the Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce. You simply mix together the filling, fill up the mushroom caps, brush on a little olive oil, and sprinkle extra sesame seeds on top. Then the stuffed mushrooms bake in the oven for just 20 minutes.

The mushrooms make for tasty hor d’oeuvres for parties or just a side dish at dinner. You can also mix the filling and stuff the mushrooms ahead of time, and just pop them in the oven before serving. To test the seasoning of the meat mixture, just sauté a small bit of the filling in a skillet, and adjust accordingly with salt and pepper.

What are some of your favorite snacks or appetizers that use teriyaki sauce?

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Teriyaki Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms 

Serves 4 as an appetizer

3/4 pound ground chicken2 teaspoons minced ginger2 scallions, thinly sliced3 tablespoons Soy Vay® Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce1 pound cremini or white button mushrooms3 tablespoons olive oil2 teaspoons white sesame seedsPreheat the oven to 350°F.Make the filling: In a small bowl, combine the ground chicken, ginger, scallions, and teriyaki sauce . Mix thoroughly; the filling should resemble a thick paste. Set aside.Remove and discard the stems from the mushrooms and wipe the caps with a damp towel. Fill the mushroom caps with about 1 tablespoon of filling. Pack tightly so that top of filling is rounded like a miniature dome. Place the stuffed mushrooms on the prepared baking sheet, cap side down. With a pastry brush, brush the top of the filling with olive oil. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.Bake for 20 minutes, until the meat is cooked through, the top of the chicken has browned, and the mushrooms are softened. (If you’re using large cremini or white button mushrooms and used more filling, it’s safer to bake for 25 minutes.)Remove from the oven and allow the mushrooms to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Disclosure: I am a Soy Vay® Ambassador and Soy Vay® products were provided to me by Soy Vay®.

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Brandied Chicken and Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce

Happy 2013!

I just came back from a nice long trip to Boston to visit family for the holidays. I have to admit: it’s been very nice to take a break from blogging for a short while. Having been a blogger for so long (5 years!), I sometimes have a lot of trouble separating it from daily life. It’s not like having a 9-5 job, where you can mostly leave your work at the office. Weeknights? Why not stay up until midnight working on a post? Weekends? Perfect time for recipe-testing!

In the past year or so I’ve gotten much better about setting aside time just for relaxation. I now leave at least an hour before bed for reading or something similarly relaxing, instead of just going straight for editing photos to hitting the pillow. Saturdays have become unplug days (well, mostly…checking email on the phone doesn’t count, right?)

Needless to say, my habits could get better. And that’s one resolution for 2013, to be more efficient with work so that I have enough leisure time to recharge my batteries.

Another resolution is to actually use the many, many cookbooks sitting on my shelves. I am somewhat of a cookbook-collecting fiend and keep buying them even though I’m quickly running out of space to store them. Every crevice of my apartment has cookbooks, from the coffee table to the wine cart to underneath my bed. Yet for some reason, I don’t cook out of them as often as I should.

I received a copy of The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook a few months ago and regretfully haven’t had a chance to cook out of it until now. I’ve been following Pat’s blog for a few years and it has always made me hungry-nostalgic for dishes from all over Asia. The Brandied Chicken and Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce from her cookbook seemed like the perfect quick and easy dish to help me transition from the vacation state of mind.

I made only a few small changes, such as using chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs. (As a big advocate for the deliciousness of chicken thighs, this is a substitution which I almost never make, but for some reason three supermarkets near my apartment were all out of them that day.) But this dish is great with either ingredient. I also added a bit of Chinese rice wine to loosen the chicken from the pan, and the light flavor went well with the brandy. All in all, a very easy comfort food dish to start off the new year.

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Brandied Chicken and Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce

Serves 4

2 tablespoons vegetable oil3 cloves garlic, mincedOne 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry8 ounces white button or cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced1/4 cup oyster sauce1 tablespoon soy sauceSalt and pepper to taste2 tablespoons brandy1 scallion, chopped or thinly sliced for garnishHeat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the base. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the onion and stir-fry until soft and translucent, 2 to 3 minutes.Add the chicken and cook, stirring, until no longer pink, 2 to 3 minutes. Swirl in the rice wine to loosen the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add the mushrooms, then add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and brandy and simmer for another 2 or 3 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.  Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle scallions on top, and serve.

Adapted from The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking from Asian American Kitchens

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Tagged as: Chicken, Chinese, Recipes

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Ancient mushroom models, plus a recipe for oven-steamed mushrooms

In this month’s Japan Times food column, I write about the varieties of mushrooms available in Japan. It has a recipe for mushroom rice in there too - one of my favorite recipes for fall, for which I have a few variations (a couple of them are on this site, i.e. here and here.

One of the things I talk about in the article is the mysterious mushroom-shaped clay objects that have been found from prehistoric excavation sites in northern Japan. Here’s a picture of some of these mushroom-shaped clay objects, pilfered from the Chiba Prefectural Museum website. Aren’t they amazingly lifelike?

As I wrote in the article, they are generally thought to be made as visual aids to mushroom hunting - very lifelike models of edible mushrooms that people carried around in the forests, just like modern day mushroom hunters carry photographic field guides with them. It’s really fun to imagine people thousands of years ago packing up a selection of these clay mushrooms, perhaps with a basket and a little knife or something too, as they went foraging. I wonder how people in other regions tackled the problem of sticking to safe mushrooms in the days before illustrated manuals?

Whenever I go back to Japan, it really strikes me that while you can get basically any kind of fruit or vegetable, the ones that are inexpensive, and therefore most commonly used, differ a lot from the same in Europe (at least the parts I’m familiar with) or the U.S. Mushrooms are no exception. In Japan, shiitake, enoki, shimeji and maitake mushooms are quite inexpensive, while western button mushrooms are way more pricey. When I do a European style mushroom pasta with butter and garlic and wine and so on in Japan, I often use shimeji or maitake (shiitake have a too-specific aroma to me) instead of button mushrooms. (Matsutake of course are in another strosphere.)

The selection of mushrooms here in southern France is very different of course. We can, in season, get the most gorgeous chantarelles or pleurotus (oyster mushrooms) and so on at pretty fair prices. And of course there are truffles - very expensive still, but a lot cheaper than elsewhere. Here’s a mound of wild mushrooms being sold at a local market. A bear to clean, since they have bits of leaves and plenty of dirty in them, but so worth it.

This super-easy recipe can be made with a mixture of any kind of mushrooms you can get, even plain old button mushrooms, though the more wild-type mushrooms you can use the better. Baking times vary according to how big your mushrooms are, but range from around 20-30 minutes. In Japan I would use a mixture of fresh shiitake, shimeji and enoki, and here in France I’d use boletus, chantarelles and chestnut mushrooms if I can.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 360°F.

For each serving, use a good big handful of cleaned mushrooms. If the mushrooms are very large or thick (e.g. if you’re using trumpet mushrooms or eringi*), slice them lengthwise or shred them. Small or thin mushrooms can be used whole.

Spread the mushrooms out on a piece of foil or ovenproof parchment paper. Sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of sake and 1 to 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. (If you can’t use sake, leave it out, though you will miss out a bit on taste.) You can also add a little grated ginger if you like.

Fold the foil over and seal the edges well. Put the foil packets in the oven on a baking sheet an bake for around 20 to 30 minute, depending on the size of your mushrooms.

Open the foil carefully since it will be very hot! Serve with some kaposu or sudachi wedges, if you’re in Japan (or can get a hold of these Japanese citrus fruits) or lemon or lime wedges. To make it richer, add a pat of butter to the still-hot mushrooms. Eat with plain rice, mixed into buttered pasta.

[*I am not a big fan of eringi or trumpet mushrooms. They have even less flavor to me than button mushrooms. They are a very recent introduction to Japan by the way, having only been available there since the ’90s, and they are inexplicably popular…perhaps because they look so impressive.]

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Eryngii Mushrooms 4 oz.

Better known by their name "King Oyster Mushroom," the eryngii is the largest variety in the family of oyster mushrooms. It is native both to Europe growing mainly in the Mediterranean area and in parts of central Asia. The eryngii has been very popular in Europe and Asia for a number of years, but is relatively unknown in the U.S. Believe it or not, a boom in Italian cuisine in Japan in the 1990s helped popularize this mushroom which is delicious in pasta dishes. Its hint of almond-like flavor adapts very well to Asian or Mediterranean dishes. If you like to cook, experiment with our newest find. Depending on your preference, the gorgeous white slices can be used whole or you can julienne, after reconstituting.

JR Mushrooms & Specialties, Inc., has been a provider of outstanding quality dried mushrooms and specialty gourmet products to fine retailers since 1990. Due to the overwhelming positive responses and comments, the company decided to make these products available directly to retail customers.

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Maitake Mushrooms 4 oz

The maitake mushroom commonly known as 'hen of the woods' is a delicious and healthful mushroom. Very often sold in supplemental form such as pills and powder, the maitake is renowned for its health benefits. In addition the maitakes are noted for their taste. Rich and woodsy in flavor along with the meaty texture make them a delicious addition to many different dishes.

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Whole Straw Mushrooms

Popular in Asian cuisines, these small, sweet mushrooms are cultivated on rice straw in paddy fields. Velvety smooth with a chewy, meaty texture, they're great for soups, stews, and stir-fries. Try in red-miso soup with cubes of silken tofu.

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Asian Porcini Mushrooms Fresh Frozen 1 lb.

Extra Fancy Porcini (Boletus Edulis) Wild Mushrooms, Fresh Frozen . Cooking Instructions: Step 1: Without prior thawing put the contents of the bag in an oiled or buttered frying pan. Step 2: Cook the mushrooms until the water is evaporated. Step 3: Add Italian mushrooms to your favorite recipe. Preservation: 24 hours in Refrigerator. Never re-freeze a defrosted product.

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Maitake Mushrooms 16 oz

The maitake mushroom commonly known as 'hen of the woods' is a delicious and healthful mushroom. Very often sold in supplemental form such as pills and powder, the maitake is renowned for its health benefits. In addition the maitakes are noted for their taste. Rich and woodsy in flavor along with the meaty texture make them a delicious addition to many different dishes.

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Ty Ling Straw Mushrooms, 15-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24)

Ty Ling Naturals create true Asian flavor with all natural ingredients and ready to use convience. Ty Ling offers a full assortment of items including sauces, vegtables, oils, soups, noodles, mustard, fortune cookies and rice vinegar.

Price: $57.36

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Asian Extra Fancy Porcini Mushrooms - Frozen

You can appreciate the beauty and fleshiness of these delightful Porcinis. Mushrooms freeze extremely well, and are great for flavoring sauces, casseroles, soups and stuffings. Porcinis are a particularly versatile mushroom, known for their aroma and extr

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