Crispy Taiwanese-Style Popcorn Mushrooms
Crispy pieces of mushrooms coated with some salt, pepper, and really fragrant chinese five spice. You only need 7 ingredients for this really snack that you can munch on! It’s inspired by the Taiwanese popcorn chicken that are usually enjoyed in bubble tea shops, night markets, or food stalls in Taiwan. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 227 g fresh oyster mushrooms see notes(1/2 lb)
- 6 tbsp corn starch or potato starch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp chinese 5 spice powder see notes
- Neutral oil for frying
- Handful fresh Thai or Holy basil leaves optional for frying
For serving
- Onion salt or garlic salt , or regular salt, for sprinkling after cooking
- White pepper for sprinkling after cooking (optional)
Instructions
- Break apart large pieces of the mushrooms. If using fresh basil, make sure they're dry since water droplets can cause the oil to splash more when cooking later on.
- Add in the corn or potato starch, salt, and chinese five spice in a bowl. Mix together.
- Afterwards, place the mushrooms in the large bowl.
- Toss the mushrooms well to evenly coat in the starch.
- Heat a large pan and add in neutral oil, enough to submerge the mushrooms. Place over high heat. Once the oil is VERY hot, place in the coated mushrooms. They will bubble once you add them. Note that its important your oil is super hot because if added too soon when oil isn’t sizzling hot yet, the mushrooms will absorb all the oil and get soggy. You may need to cook this in batches depending on the size of your pan.
- Leave the mushrooms to fry for 4-5 minutes until lightly browned. Move around to ensure that they’re browned throughout. Once they’re lightly brown throughout, remove the mushrooms from the oil, and place on a strainer or a place with some paper towels to drain the excess oil. Repeat this step for the remaining mushrooms.
- After cooking the mushrooms, step away a little from the pan since basil tends to splash when added to the oil.Add in the fresh basil leaves, if using. Leave to cook until the basil leaves have turned slightly translucent and crispy. Remove from the oil and place on a strainer or a place with some paper towels to drain the excess oil.
- Serve the mushrooms and basil. Sprinkle with some more salt and pepper, if desired. Enjoy while hot!
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Notes
- Fresh mushrooms – don’t wet or wash the mushrooms. I usually only brush off any excess dirt from fresh mushrooms since they do act like sponges and absorb a lot of liquid. You can also use other fresh mushrooms like king oyster/trumpet mushrooms, shiitake
- Five spice powder – If you don’t have chinese 5 spice, feel free to sub with some white pepper and a pinch of cinnamon
- Cooked mushrooms – Make sure you don’t place the mushrooms in an enclosed container especially if they haven’t cooled down completely because they’ll turn soggy.
- Fresh basil – be careful when frying basil since they tend to splatter when placed in the oil. Also be sure your basil has no water droplets because they can splash even more when placed in the oil to fry.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 380kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 604mg | Potassium: 492mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 58IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 2mg
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