Oyster Mushroom Satay

This Oyster Mushroom Satay recipe started with one thing: a sauce. Well, two things: a sauce and a dream.

Friends, I have been sitting on this harissa sauce for a while. Waiting, hoping to find a use for it that perfectly did it justice. This sauce is fusion in the best way, it takes inspiration from Malaysian, Moroccan and Japanese ingredients and creates a smokey, umami-packed sauce that definitely meets my “eat it with a spoon” criteria.

And for a few weeks, I was experimenting with putting this sauce on everything. Tofu? It’s great on tofu, but it didn’t fully feel right. It was also amazing on fish, but the char wasn’t there without drying it out (and I’m a PICKY fish eater).

And then, enter the scene: oyster ‘shrooms. Now to be truly respectful to satay and its origins, this is only inspired by the Indonesian street food, which is, of course, meat-based. But isn’t there something wonderful about food on a stick? There are many variations of satay across Southeast Asia (and I would like to try them all, please). But that is why this recipe, although ‘shroom-based, pays homage to the delicious, crispy and meaty satay you can get from authentic sources.

A bit about how to use oyster mushrooms

Oyster mushrooms are a magical ingredient (and no, not in the “magical mushrooms” way). But seriously, I cannot believe I haven’t made an oyster mushroom recipe before now. There’s a reason you see people deep-frying them into fried chicken all over the place – they are just that good. They are somehow the meatiest, juiciest and crispiest mushrooms out there, but they still manage to look so good.

When you get an oyster mushroom, it’s usually a clump of many mushrooms that have been harvested, and it looks a bit intimidating. But if you separate the mushrooms into smaller clumps, they are surprisingly easy to handle and manipulate.

Another amazing thing about oyster mushrooms is that if you give them space to breathe and time to cook, they are one of the few mushrooms that get crispy on the edges while still being chewy in the middle, similar to a well-charred steak. Again, these lil ‘shroomie babies are the perfect meat substitute.

The biggest tip I have for using oyster mushrooms is to give them plenty of space. In this recipe, we place them on a skewer, but making sure to evenly space them out on the skewer will make all the difference. When in doubt, check out the photos to see what I mean!

What’s in this sauce for the oyster mushroom satay

This sauce combines a lot of my favorite condiments: harissa paste, soy sauce, olive oil and smoked paprika. All heaven. But when I was testing this recipe I knew the sauce needed one other thing, and that’s where the rice vinegar came in to truly save this recipe. So don’t skimp on the rice vinegar, you’ll need it to provide some much-needed balance and brightness to a lot of other smokey and spicy flavors.

Here’s the full ingredient breakdown for this please-eat-me-with-a-spoon sauce:

• 1/4 cup harissa paste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

How to prep the oyster mushrooms

Oyster mushrooms do look a little intimidating, especially if you’re looking to turn them into an oyster mushroom satay. That’s why I like to trim the ugly part of the stem off (you’ll know what I mean when you see it) and then gently pull apart mushrooms in clumps. Oyster mushroom tops can vary based on the size of the mushroom, so sometimes I pull off the tops in clusters of 2-3, or sometimes I just pull off one.

For this particular recipe, you want to create a look of them all being piled on the skewer, so I fold them in half before adding them to the skewer.

It looks like they are all crowded on there, but I try to give each mushroom a bit of space to breathe. This will help with getting crispy oyster mushrooms!

How to bring this recipe together

This whole recipe is very easy, only a few steps and then you roast the skewers. Full step-by-step instructions are below:

• Preheat your oven to 425°F.
• In a small bowl whisk together the harissa paste, olive oil, soy sauce, paprika and rice vinegar. Taste and feel free to adjust the seasoning to your preference (this also depends on your harissa paste, so feel free to adjust based on your paste’s savoriness and spice level).
• Tear apart the oyster mushrooms, you want small chunks and strips.
• Fold over each piece of mushroom onto the skewer, forming about a 6-8 inch stretch of mushrooms on each stick.
• Generously brush each skewer with the harissa mixture. Place the skewers on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Roast the skewers at 425°F for 10 minutes, then flip and roast for another 8-10 minutes or until the skewers are dark red and caramelized. This might take more or less time depending on your oven and the moisture content of your mushrooms, so keep an eye on them!
• Remove the skewers from the oven. Then top the skewers with chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds and serve warm.

Tips & tricks for this recipe

Here are a few pointers as you go:

• Load up the satay with sauce. You don’t want this to be a “light” portion. We don’t believe in light sauce here.
• If your harissa paste has a high amount of oil in it, cut back a bit on the olive oil in the recipe. But only do this as a way to troubleshoot after trying it out! You’ll know there’s too much oil in the sauce if it has a more muted flavor and takes a bit longer in the oven to crisp up.
• Continue to flip the satay every 8-10 minutes in the oven if it needs more time to darken. The cooking time will depend on your oven, the mushrooms and the harissa paste you have, so don’t worry if it takes a bit longer to look perfect.

Looking for other vegetarian recipes?

I love a good meat substitute, I would consider myself an expert at this point!

And that’s it for this Oyster Mushroom Satay!

If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3