Recipe: Garlic Enoki Mushrooms (Suan Rong Nen Zheng Jinzhengu)

When you go to beer houses in Taiwan, one of the most popular dishes is garlic enoki mushrooms wrapped in foil. Super-soft enoki mushrooms are great at soaking up the spicy, garlicky sauce. This is one of those dishes that is so easy to make. Wrap everything up in foil or parchment paper and pop it in the oven—that’s it! This pairs perfectly with a bowl of rice, or you can enjoy it on its own.

Ingredients

• 285 g enoki mushrooms
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp garlic oil
• 1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
• ½ tsp ground white pepper
• 1 fresh red Thai chili, chopped (optional)
• Chopped scallions, green part only, for garnish
• Cooked rice or your favourite noodles, for serving

Method

Preheat the oven to 380°F. Place an 8-by-12-inch rectangle of aluminum foil (large enough to wrap the enoki mushrooms) on a work surface. Spray or brush the foil with olive oil to prevent the mushrooms  from sticking.

Trim away about 1 inch from the root end of the enoki. Place the enoki in the middle of the foil. Top with the butter. Drizzle the garlic oil and vegetarian oyster sauce over the mushrooms and sprinkle with the white pepper and chili, if using. Tightly wrap to prevent any leaking.

Place the wrapped enoki mushrooms on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Let sit until cool enough to handle.

Unwrap the foil package. The mushrooms should be soft and the butter should be melted. Mix everything together and transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with the scallions and serve with rice or noodles.