Learn how to make air fried oyster mushrooms. They are the plant based equivalent to KFC fried chicken without the need for deep fat frying. These oyster mushrooms are generously seasoned and encased in a gluten free coating made from tapioca starch and brown rice flour. No breadcrumbs, panko or cornflakes needed!

A plate full of air fried oyster mushrooms.

I'm so excited to showcase this recipe to you all.

Anyway, I decided to really push the boat out a bit more by challenging myself to another vegan recipe.

For quite some time now I have been hearing all the buzz about oyster mushrooms. I've seen some pretty spectacular pseudo "meat" recipes and even though I'm not a vegan I appreciate vegan/plant based food.

I would say my eating habits are around 50-60% meatless so the thought of cooking with oyster mushrooms excited me.

My issue was that oyster mushrooms were difficult (so I thought) to obtain. I looked in ALL of the UK commercial supermarkets to no avail, they had every orther variation but oyster so I gave up looking.

That was until I recently visited my local Chinese supermarket. I wrote a list of things to buy but mushrooms weren't on the list.

I thought while I was in the supermarket, maybe I should just try looking for oyster mushrooms, I mean if I could buy gluten free oyster sauce then maybe, just maybe they might have oyster mushrooms.

To my delight, they did, and your girl stocked up! I went all out, I already drafted a "pseudo meat" recipe it was just a matter of testing it before sharing the final results.

This is where we are today, first we had soy(a) curls/chunks, tofu, jackfruit, artichokes, banana blossom and now oyster mushrooms are the least hype!

Cooking with oyster mushrooms

If you're new to the realm of oyster mushrooms then this recipe will be a great entry point.

I've eaten recipes with mushrooms before, granted they were amazing but this one (without sounding biased) is really good.

There is an art to this recipe, you NEED to follow every step, in the order that is stated. Don't omit or tweak anything because it may result in an epic fail.

Oyster mushrooms tend to be broad, delicate and fan shaped (vary in size) and grow in clusters. Also known as pearl or tree oyster mushrooms, they are one of the most common types of culivated mushroom in the world.

A lot of East Asian countries such as Korea, China, Japan etc... use oyster mushrooms in a variety of their cuisines and it can be eaten raw or cooked.

In terms of cooked, the mushroom acts like a sponge, absorbing and holding onto any liquid that it comes into contact with.

You can cook them in various ways - stir fry, braise, steam, fry, roast and grill them.

Like most mushrooms they don't really have any type of flavour, atleast in my opinion they don't.

Instead, what is most notiable is their meat texture, once cooked, atleast the way I air fried them for this recipe.

when I tore into the mushroom, it gave off a chicken texture almost to the point that it looked shredded which was very impressive.

This is why I almost want to call this recipe vegan fried chicken or vegan chicken nuggets because that is what it essentially is.

The recipe preparation

Let's talk about the recipe to hand, you're going to need quite a few sizeable bowls for this recipe because you will be setting up a work station.

The oyster mushrooms will need to be trimmed and cleaned off. I gently washed off any debris ensuring that the mushrooms weren't saturated (atleast not just yet).

You can use wet paper towels to gently wipe them down or run them through water. I personally think wiping them off would be more beginner friendly.

The buttermilk is used in 2 steps, for soaking the oyster mushrooms and dipping them.

This is particular important to give the mushrooms more volume and to amplify their pre-existing meat texture.

Once you soak the mushrooms, the next step is dipping them in tapioca starch. Starch is essential for making the coating crispy.

Starch is also used in a lot of chicken wing recipes and that is to yield that crispiness.

Then the mushroom is dipped in a fresh batch of buttermilk, you could use the milk from the first bowl but because it will be crowded already I think a new bowl of milk works out better.

The final step is to dip the oyster mushroom in the seasoned coating mix.

There are a lot of herbs and spices that go into this, it may seem like a large quantity but the large ratio of seasoning to the brown rice flour yields a perfect KFC like taste.

Then it's just a case of air frying the mushrooms, they don't take very long to air fry and do need a bit of oil (I like to use olive oil in its sprayed variation) on both sides to help to crisp them up.

The steps

Separate the oyster clusters into flat pieces and trim off the bulbous ends (you can use kitchen scissors or a chef's knife to do this) and set aside.
Split the lime juice between the 2 large bowls of almond milk and whisk to make buttermilk.
Add the oyster mushrooms to the bowl with 2 cups of buttermilk and leave to soak for 10 minutes.

Steps 5-8 soaking the mushrooms and making the coating

While the mushrooms are soaking prepare the other ingredients.
Place the tapioca starch in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
Add all of the herbs and spices listed to make the coating to a spice/coffee grinder (you may need to work in batches)
Mix together the spice mix with the brown rice flour in a medium sized bowl.
Set up your workstation/bowls in this order - oyster mushrooms in buttermilk, tapioca starch, dipping liquid, the coating and a resting plate.
Carefully remove one of the oyster mushrooms from the buttermilk bowl (shaking off any excess milk)

Place the mushroom into the bowl with the starch and use a spoon to roll/coat both sides.
Dip the mushroom into the almond milk (again shaking off any excess liquid)
Place the mushroom into the bowl with the coating mix and again use a spoon to apply the coating.
Place the coated oyster mushroom on a plate and repeat the above steps with the remaining mushrooms.
Preheat the air fryer.

Steps13-16 air frying the oyster mushrooms

Spray cooking oil (I used olive oil) on a liner or the air fryer basket.
Place the coated oyster mushrooms in the air fryer basket (you may need to do this in batches).
Lightly spray the tops with oil
Air fry @190C/374F for 10-12 minutes turning half way and re-spraying with oil.
Serve immediately.

Notes and tips

For best results I recommend eating them while they are still warm/hot.
If you need to re-heat, wrap them in foil and heat in the air fryer for a few minutes.
Make sure to set up your work station in the order that is stated in the recipe card as it is much easier and beginner friendly to work that way.
Cold oyster mushrooms aren't as crispy which is why I recommend serving them warm.
This recipe is not freezer friendly and it is best to eat on the same day.
Keep an eye on the mushrooms as the air frying time may vary for small mushrooms so you may need to remove those before the others.
You MUST use oyster mushrooms for this recipe, chestnut, portobello etc.. won't work.

Sauces to accompany the recipe

Other air fryer recipes to try

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