Vegan Mushroom Sushi, 5 Ways
Sushi without fish usually means cucumber rolls and apologies. This plate makes no apologies: five kinds of mushroom, each cooked its own way — shiitake simmered sweet-savory, king oyster and enoki poached in kombu dashi, maitake fried crisp, and silky nameko folded with grated daikon on a gunkan piece.
Mushrooms are umami machines, which is exactly the job fish does in sushi. Lined up on a plate, these look like an occasion — and they come from one pot of broth and 25 minutes of work.
Ingredients
Mushrooms
- Shiitake2 caps
- King oyster mushroom (eryngii)1
- Enokia small handful
- Nameko mushroomssee substitutions1 Tbsp
- Maitake (hen of the woods)a small cluster
Poaching broth
- Water3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp
- Kombu dashi powder1 tsp
- Salt2 pinches
For simmering the shiitake
- Soy sauce1 Tbsp
- Cane sugar2 tsp
To assemble
- Grated daikon1 Tbsp
- Norias needed
- Wasabia little
- Prepared sushi rice1 heaping cup
- Oil, for frying the maitakeas needed
Nutrition
per serving🛒 Ingredient notes & substitutions
Nameko: Small amber mushrooms with a silky glaze, sold canned or in packs at Japanese groceries. Can't find them? Skip that piece or double up on enoki — the other four styles carry the plate.
Sushi rice: Short-grain rice seasoned with vinegar, sugar and salt — the ratio from my avocado sushi rolls recipe (2 Tbsp rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt per 3/4 cup dry rice) makes exactly what you need here.
Instructions
Slice the king oyster lengthwise into 1/4-inch (5 mm) planks and trim the enoki. Poach both briefly in the dashi broth and lift out. Score the king oyster planks shallowly so they drape and chew nicely.
Add the soy sauce and sugar to the same broth and simmer the shiitake (stem off, caps scored with a cross). Meanwhile, blanch the nameko and mix with the grated daikon.
Deep-fry the maitake cluster plain, no batter.
Form the sushi rice into pillows and top each with a different mushroom, pressing gently. Belt the king oyster and enoki pieces with a thin strip of nori and dab with wasabi. Make one gunkan (nori-wrapped) piece and crown it with the nameko-daikon mixture.
Tips
Each mushroom gets the treatment that suits it — simmered, poached, fried or dressed — so five toppings from one pot of broth never taste repetitive.
Salt the fried maitake lightly, or better: reduce the leftover simmering broth until syrupy and brush it on top. That glaze is the professional touch.