If you only ever used enoki mushrooms in soups or stir-fries, it's time to give this enoki pancakes recipe a go. These moreish nibbles are crispy and flavourful, perfect as a side dish, starter, or even a savoury breakfast. Let us show you how to make them!
The recipe is super simple: dip enoki mushrooms into a savoury pancake batter and pan-fry them until crispy outside and chewy inside.
Also known as enokitake or golden needle mushrooms, enoki mushrooms are widely used in Japanese, Korean, Chinese cuisine, and across Southeast Asia.
These mushroom patties are inspired to Korean and Japanese omelette-like, savoury pancakes. And you can make small patties or one big pancake to slice into squares.
Because we wanted this recipe to be suitable for folks with food allergies and vegans, we made the pancakes egg-free and gluten-free.
We prepared a simple, light pancake batter with just starch, oil, and water to replace eggs and flour. Then, we spiced it up with Asian ingredients like soy sauce, ginger, and spring onions.
What's cool about enoki mushrooms is that their thin stems get entangled as they cook. So, if you overlap them before frying them, they will hold together quite well.
So, forming a lattice with the mushrooms is a cool trick to make round and sturdy enoki pancakes without using eggs. We'll show you to do it in the steps below!
Ingredients
| Starch (corn or potato) | 100 g |
| Water | 120 mL |
| Gluten-Free Soy Sauce | 1 tbsp |
| Vegetable Oil | 1/2 tbsp |
| Ginger Powder | 1/2 tsp |
| Black Pepper | 1/2 tsp |
| Thin Red Chillies | 4 |
| Spring Onion Stalks | 1 |
| Enoki Mushrooms | 180 g |
Step 1
Let's start by preparing the vegan and gluten-free pancake batter.
Add sifted starch to a bowl, followed by water, oil, and soy sauce.
Tip in ground ginger, black pepper, thinly sliced red chillies and spring onions.
Mix all until you have a smooth and pourable batter.
At first, the mixture is a bit hard to stir, but mix vigorously for a few seconds and it will turn into a liquid batter.
Step 2
To prepare the enoki, trim off and discard the bottom part of the mushrooms where the stems look brownish and are tightly connected.
Then, divide the mushrooms into as many bunches as the number of pancakes — 12 for the default ingredients, each weighing about 15g (1/2 oz).
Instead of making small mushrooms fritters, you can also make one large enoki pancake, like an omelette. To do it, check our tips at the bottom of the recipe.
Now, for each bunch, separate the enoki strands pulling them gently.
Then, overlap the strands arranging them into a lattice, as shown in the picture.
You don't have to be precise here; you just want the mushrooms to tangle so they'll hold together when cooking.
And by doing so, the pancakes will have a neater, round shape.
Step 3
Lightly grease and heat a non-stick frying pan.
Give a quick stir to the pancake batter (as the starch sediments at the bottom of the bowl), and dip in the enoki lattice you just made.
Once the mushrooms are nicely coated, lift them and let excess batter drip off before transferring them into the hot skillet.
Don't worry if the enoki strands get a bit messy; you'll be able to rearrange them once in the pan.
Step 4
Now, place the enoki pancake onto the frying pan and use your fingers or a spatula to flatten and spread out the mushrooms strands (1).
Cook the mushroom pancake for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat until it's golden and crispy at the bottom.
Then flip it with the help of a spatula and cook it for another 4 minutes on the other side (2).
While the pancake cooks, you can prepare the others and cook them in the same skillet if you have enough space.
Remember to always stir the batter before dipping the mushroom lattice, as explained in step 3.
Keep the prepared pancakes warm under a plate or in a warm oven. You can also quickly reheat the pancakes in the skillet before serving.
And now, serve your delicious vegan and gluten-free enoki pancakes piping hot. You can top them with toasted sesame seeds and drizzle with soy sauce, vegan mayo, or Asian chilli jam if you like.
Tips
You can also make one large enoki pancake, like the Japanese okonomiyaki pancake. Arrange the mushrooms strands onto the hot, greased skillet and pour over the batter, distributing it evenly. Cook the pancake until golden on both sides and serve it cut into squares or slices.