These deep fried oyster mushrooms are an excellent meatless alternative to deep-fried chicken and meat. They are battered, coated with spiced cornmeal and fried until golden. Crispy on the outside and meaty on the inside. Just like fried chicken. And, you can even incorporate them into burgers or salads.

Prep Time: 10 min                      Cook Time: 20 min

Yield: 4 Servings

 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups (10 oz/300 g) oyster mushrooms

Wet Batter: 

• 1 and ½ cups almond milk
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons salt
  

Dry Batter:

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt
  

For frying:

1 cup oil (vegetable or sunflower)

INSTRUCTIONS

 

1. Clean oyster mushrooms with a damp paper towel, if needed.

Batter:

1. To make the vegan buttermilk, mix vinegar and almond milk in a cup and let it sit for a minute.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and all the spices. Pour the vegan buttermilk into the bowl and mix everything well.

Dry Batter:

1. In a separate bowl, whisk together cornmeal, paprika and salt. 

Assemble:

1. Place the batter mixture and coating mixture next to a baking sheet.
2. Dip each oyster mushroom in the wet batter using a fork. Let any excessive batter drip back into the bowl. 
3. Place the battered mushrooms into the coating mixture. Make sure they are well-coated. Shake them gently to remove excessive coating. 
4. Repeat for all the mushrooms and place them on the baking sheet in a single layer. 
5. Heat oil in a pan. Fry the breaded mushrooms for 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Don’t overcrowd the pan.
6. Transfer the fried mushrooms on a paper towel. 
7. Serve warm. 

NOTES

• Don’t wash the mushrooms. They absorb the water which then gets pushed back out when they are heated, causing the batter to fall off. Simply clean them with a damp paper towel, if needed. 
• It is easier to first coat all of the mushrooms in the wet batter and dry coating before frying them. By placing them on a baking sheet, they are all ready to be fried quickly and won’t have to sit afterward for very long.
• Make sure that you have a hot oiled pan or deep fryer. To test if your oil is hot enough, you can drop a pinch of flour inside. If it immediately starts sizzling, it is hot enough. But, if it sinks to the bottom and doesn’t react at all, you need to continue heating the oil.
• Never overcrowd the pan when frying mushrooms. This will cause the temperature of the oil to drop too much and not evenly fry the mushrooms.