Ingredient Spotlight: King Trumpet Mushrooms

Perhaps you've seen these thick, stumpy mushrooms with small, flat caps at Asian markets. They're part of the oyster mushroom species and are sometimes called king oysters since they're the largest of the oyster mushroom species.

While native to the Mediterranean, these mushrooms are popular in Asian cooking. They hold up well in soups and stir fries, and are terrific when cooked as tempura.

These mushrooms have very little flavor or aroma when raw. When cooked, the taste has been described as being umami, with the flavor and texture of an abalone. These mushrooms have a long shelf life and can stay firm and fresh in the fridge for over a week.

In most oyster mushroom species, the stems are too tough to eat, but the stem of king trumpet mushrooms is very pleasing to eat. The texture is crunchy and firm, like a portabello mushroom cap. Trim off only the very end of the stem and give them a light brushing to remove dirt. Try sauteeing in some butter until golden brown, or try it in a stir fry. It also grills and barbecues well.

(Image: Kathryn Hill)

Comments (6)

These mushrooms are also amazing in braises! Long, slow cooking makes them super-meaty and substantial in texture and they have time to really absorb the flavor of the braising liquid.

I used them last week in israeli cous cous. First I sautéed the shrooms with yellow onion then added the cous cous and hot chicken broth. I cooked it about a half hour adding more broth as needed. Oh and tossed in some frozen artichoke hearts from TJs. The end result was great.

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Oh great timing! I just picked some up great looking ones that were on sale at the grocery store and was wondering how best to cook them.

I don't mean to split hairs, but I think you mean that they're the largest in the oyster mushroom genus (not species). There are many kinds of oyster mushrooms, and each is its own species, but they are all in the same genus (the next category up).

living in Beijing these mushrooms are easy to get a hold of and i like to slice them into thin strips stir fry them in garlic and ginger with a splash of soy sauce (light or dark) and a splash of white wine. Great side dish.
due to the weird shape of some of these mushrooms our house has nicknamed them "willy mushrooms" - willy being a common british nickname for penis :D

@stereobeijing, do you eat these in mushroom hotpot like we do down in southern China (GZ & HK)? That's my favorite thing to do with these mushrooms...add a few other kinds of mushrooms for variety and braise with some dried tofu sticks. I especially like the Hakka-style mushroom braises.