I love fried foods. But I could never bring myself to actually fry anything at home. It’s much too messy and in the back of my mind I know I’m much too lazy to want to clean up after frying.
Then I came across a recipe for King Oyster Mushroom “Calamari” in Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis. It looks just like fried calamari but it’s really king oyster mushrooms (also called king trumpet) that have been dehydrated. But alas, I didn’t have a dehydrator and I didn’t want to leave the oven on low for hours.
Inspired by the raw recipe, I made a baked version. Fresh out of the oven, the mushroom calamari came out nice and crispy. Easy, healthy and so good for satisfying that fried food itch.
Baked King Oyster Mushroom Calamari
Serves 2 as an appetizer
3-4 large king oyster mushrooms
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly squeezed juice from 1/2 small lemon
Sea salt
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon ground flax meal
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Wash and slice the mushrooms crosswise into 1/8″ slices. Using a small round cutter, cut out a hole in the center to make a ring. Save the centers for some other use.
Combine the olive oil, lemon juice and a generous pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Add the mushroom rings and toss, leave to marinate for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix together the water and flax meal in a small bowl and let stand for a few minutes until the mixture becomes slimy and somewhat sticky. In a separate plate or pan, combine the breadcrumbs, spices and salt to taste.
Dip a mushroom ring into the flax seed wash and then into the breadcrumbs, covering well. Place on a well-oiled baking sheet in a single layer.
Bake for 10 minutes, flip over the rings and bake another 5 minutes on the other side until crispy. Serve immediately. It’s good plain or with tartar sauce.
Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon link, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on the link and make a purchase of anything.
Related Links
Spicy Mushroom Cocktail
King Oyster Mushrooms with Snow Peas
King Oyster Mushroom Salad
Yes, this looks awesome. Delicious!
What a cool idea! The calamari look so crunchy and delicious!
This looks so good, I used to love calamari and have not been able to think of anything that would replicate it well. It looks like you did a great job!
Nice! I love this idea, and your oven frying gave you very authentic looking results. I always have sticking issues. Must follow your recipe.
Could you use the breading and baking for onion rings and get the same crispy results? Would baking time be the same?
YUM!!!!!! Looks awesome delicious!
Awesome idea!
When I saw your photo, an “oooooooo” escaped my lips as I imagined munching on the delicious-looking rings. I’m like you and never want to fry things at home — but this looks entirely do-able!
Looks like an awesome snack! Love how you became inspired and ended up with a fun and fantastic new recipe!
Thanks everyone for your comments!
Diane Barnett – I haven’t tried making onion rings yet. But I would skip the marinating part and just do the flax wash and breadcrumbs. I’m unsure of the time, probably just keep an eye on it and check it until the rings become crispy.
Crazy, they look really fishy- And I mean that in a good way! I’ve never had fried calamari of any sort, but I love the sound of your mushroom version.
Wow! Back in the day I used to love Calamari. My husband too so I can’t wait to try this recipe out.
Oh wow, *baked* *mushroom* *calamari*?! How awesome is that! So delicious looking!
WOW, you are wonderful, it looks so beautiful and delicious.
I just found your recipe after not wanting to dig out my dehydrator to make the version from the cookbook you mentioned. This turned out perfectly, I put mine up on cooling racks, didn’t bother turning the rings, and after 10 minutes I turned my oven down to the lowest temperature, and kept it there for about 15 minutes while waiting. They turned out incredible! My dad made up a dipping sauce with ketchup, vegenaise, and chili sauce that paired amazingly with it.
jenny – Glad you liked them! I’ll have to try your way of baking them next time I make a batch. Thanks! :-)
I followed the instructions exactly and they came out quite soggy :/ Any idea why?
Sorry to hear they came out soggy. I’m not sure why, maybe they just need a bit more time in your oven since everyone’s oven is different. Or maybe check that the oven temperature is accurate?
That looks/sounds great!!!
Made this tonight. Never ate calamari in my life, but thought this would be fun. I didn’t cut out circles, cause I love my mushrooms in tact. It was really good. Also, I am on a gluten free diet right now. Glutino breadcrumbs worked great. It was oven baked in 10 minutes with no reason to flip Also, parchment paper is my baking best friend. Thanks for the recipe!!! It’s a keeper cause my son ate all of it, he didn’t even know he was eating shrooms.
These look amazing! I’ve never used nutritional yeast before and don’t really want to buy it for a single recipe, but I’d really like to try this. What purpose does the nutritional yeast serve in the recipe? And can it be substituted or left out?
Whole Foods or other natural food stores have nutritional yeast in the bulk foods section so you can buy as much or as little as you need. I haven’t tried the recipe without the nutritional yeast but you can probably leave it out – it adds to the coating and flavor but it’s also just a tablespoon.
Please add Pinterest tag!!! i would love to save it in my file.
Thanks a lot!
You got it! You can now pin it. :-)
I want to make this for dinner but I only have shiitake mushrooms!!! Do you think it’ll still work alright if I cut them in half and use that instead?
I haven’t tried it with shiitake mushrooms but I’m guessing it would work. Or you can try this recipe which is along the same idea but specifically uses shiitakes, http://www.forkandbeans.com/2014/05/15/baked-shiitake-shrimp
Happy cooking and I would love to hear how the shiitake mushrooms turn out.
This tastes absolutely horrible … the lime does NOT go well with this type of mushroom.. it tastes weird and acidic .
This tastes absolutely horrible … the lime does NOT go well with this type of mushroom.. it tastes weird and acidic . The seasoning was weak too.
This looks great and I’m looking forward to trying it. I have an honest question and I’d like an education. Why do so many bloggers use ultra light colored fonts on a white background? I’m sure there is a reason but I can’t see very well what I”m typing in the comments section let alone read your blog or recipe very well.