Wicked Healthy’s Shroom Spotlight | Lion’s Mane

August 4, 2017
Wicked
Recipes

Updated: February 23, 2022

2 hours 20 minutes
2 servings
0.0

Mushrooms as meat: we’re pressing on in our efforts to make this doable and plant-forward concept come to life. But first we gotta spotlight all the shrooms and tell you about all the things you can do with them. To do that, we’re going to be highlighting a shroom around here every now and then, sharing examples of how we transform this fungi into food. This week, we’re featuring Lion’s Mane mushrooms!

Ingredients

2 large Lion’s Mane Mushrooms
vegetable oil or plant-based butter

for the spice blend:

1 t black pepper
1 t coarse salt
3/4 t graduated garlic
3/4 t poultry seasoning or steak seasoning

for the marinade:

1/4 C low sodium tamari
3 T vegan fish sauce
2 t vegetable oil
2 t sesame oil
1 t chopped ginger
1 t chopped garlic
1/2 lime
1 thai chili pepper
mint and chopped green onions to garnish (optional)

Instructions

Press and sear the mushrooms in a cast iron pan (check out our method here), until compressed to about an inch or slightly more in thickness. During the pressing, season the mushrooms with the spice blend.
A note about Lion’s Mane mushrooms: There is more water in Lions Mane mushrooms when press cooking. I’ve found when the mushroom juice is in the pan you can either drain it off and use it in the marinade or allow it to burn off. You’ll want to gauge what is best for you at the time.
Once pressed to desired thickness, add cooked mushrooms to marinade for up to an hour to overnight.
When ready to prepare, slow roast on a 200-degree grill or oven for up to 2 hours, flipping and basting with extra marinade about every 15-20 minutes until a nice char crust forms.

There’s a new meat in town! In our dealings with all the forest mushroom meats over the years, nothing beats this delicate, larger than life, little white puff ball called Lion’s Mane, and also referred to as the Pom Pom or Bearded Tooth mushroom. Foraged or cultivated and grown indoors, these beauties offer one of the only natural brain foods available! Not that we need more reasons to eat them. This is the King of the forest for so many reasons!

This particular dish blew my mind. Literally one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth. Taste was explosive and the texture was spot on, slightly chewy, wicked tender and juicy AF! One of the most enjoyable things to prepare and devour for sure! We’re sharing the recipe and method for transforming this puffball into a delicious filet mignon’, so keep scrolling to the end of this post to get to that! But first, check out these beauty shots of our experiments with Lion’s Mane Shrooms!

Make no mistake about it, there is nothing petite and dainty about this fluffy, gentle creature. It’s the ol’ “don’t mistake kindness for weakness” adage when I think about these shroom babies. When cooked properly, Lion’s Mane mushrooms offer the meatiest texture I’ve ever gotten from any plant or mushroom, with the maitake and king oyster coming in a close tie for second, depending how they’re manipulated.

Big, huge Lion’s Mane mushrooms found at the local farmers market in Portland, OR.

Our mission as Wicked Healthy is to show the abundance, versatility, and how amazing mushrooms are and, in turn, help create the demand. If you want them people will grow them. It’s easy enough for people to cultivate them if there is a demand for them so ask you’re local specialty grocer, farmer’s market or mushroom growers. If we keep asking someone will surely hear us. Heck, it’s way easier than raising any animal and tending to any feed lot and lends it self well to beneficial activities and good karma. Mushrooms are the most natural meat solution and we’re proving that everyday.

Slow barbecued Lion’s Mane and Maitake mushrooms on the grill after being press-cooked and marinated for over an hour.

I know what you’re thinking. Where do I find these shrooms where I live? Check out your local farmer’s market, research online, contact your local or national Mycological Society, find an experienced forager, write your congressman! You’d be amazed at what you can find if you dig around a bit.