Description
Oysters are a tasty replacement for calamari and are a great way to wow your vegetarian friends with the satisfying umami flavor or fool your seafood-loving friends into thinking you made the freshest, best-tasting calamari ever.Ingredients
- 4 ounces Monterey Mushrooms® Oyster Mushrooms
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- 1 lemon
- Cocktail sauce or tartar sauce, per your preference
Instructions
- Preheat the fryer.*
- Remove the individual Oyster florets from the bunch. If they are large, slice them into individual pieces.
- Clean your mushrooms with our tips for preparing mushrooms here, being careful NOT to rinse them.
- Slice the lemon into wedges and set them off to the side.
- Pour the buttermilk into a medium bowl and add the individual Oyster mushrooms to soak for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, mix the flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
- Dredge the Oyster mushrooms in the flour mixture and set aside on a plate.
- When all mushrooms are prepared, drop them into the preheated fryer.*
- When they turn a light golden brown, remove the mushrooms and drain the excess oil on a paper towel-lined cookie sheet or plate. Sprinkle with salt, if desired.
- Serve with lemon wedges and cocktail sauce. Great with tarter sauce, too!
*If you don’t have one, you can prepare these on the stovetop or in an air fryer!
Stovetop Method:
- Pour 2 inches of vegetable oil into a deep frying pan and slowly heat the oil on medium/high. If you have a frying thermometer, aim for 365°F. (If you don't, test a small piece of mushroom. If it bubbles right away without boiling, it's ready.)
- If the oil is starting to smoke before laying the mushrooms in the pan, your oil has become too hot. Lower heat until the smoke disappears.
- Follow the rest of the instructions above.
Air Fryer Method:
- Preheat the air fryer.
- Lightly spray the basket with olive oil.
- Arrange the prepared mushrooms in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Do not crowd the mushrooms; you will need to prepare them in more than one batch.
- Lightly spray oil over the top of the prepared mushrooms.
- Cook at 380°F for 10 minutes.
- Flip the mushrooms and spray the tops again with olive oil. Cook an additional 6-8 minutes, checking the mushrooms at 6 minutes.
Related Recipes
Check out these dishes for more amazing meatless mushroom dishes that will have your mouth watering.
- Vegetarian Grilled Buffalo “Chicken” Mushroom Kebabs
- Maitake Pulled "Pork" Sandwich
- Easy Vegetarian and Gluten Free Mushroom Gravy
More Meatless Masterpieces
Interested in exploring more meatless meals? Mushrooms are high in umami, making them the perfect stand-in for meat. And, with their natural salty flavor, you don’t need to add extra sodium. Access 6 delicious recipes and find out more ways to cook with mushrooms when you download your Guide to Meatless Meals.