Delectable Mushrooms in Soy Sauce are slow cooked in a flavour-packed, vegan friendly blend of soy, garlic and mirin. Perfect as an appetiser or mid-cooking snack, with only 5 ingredients and 5 minutes prep!
Why We Love This
These Sticky Soy Mushrooms are like little cups of YUM. The best part is they’re so easy and hands-off to cook, they basically cook themselves.
Soaking up every last drop of that umami-garlicky-sticky-soy goodness, they’re guaranteed to fire up your appetite! The marinade is vegan and vegetarian friendly, so everyone can enjoy them.
Related: Ponzu Sauce / Enoki Beef Rolls
What are Mushrooms in Soy Sauce?
Sticky soy mushrooms were Sarah’s creation while we were living in Japan. We’d just been to the markets and bought a heap of Japanese mushrooms to cook with – enoki, shiitake, shimeji and regular white button mushrooms. While the enoki and shimeji were going in our shabu shabu hot pot for dinner, we needed to use up the shiitake and white buttons.
Sarah experimented with a quick marinade using the ingredients we had, then had the idea to remove the stems and fill the mushroom ‘cups’ and try slow cooking them. Viola – sticky soy mushrooms was born.
This is now one of our most requested dishes from family and friends on our Japanese cooking nights!
What You’ll Need
Only 5 ingredients which you’ll hopefully already have in your fridge and pantry ready to go!
- Mushrooms – We use both white button mushrooms and shiitake varieties for this recipe. You can use almost any mushroom as long as it has a deep enough cup to hold the sauce liquid while it slowly cooks.
- Soy Sauce – Japanese style Kikkoman soy sauce works for this dish. You can also sub with tamari.
- Mirin – Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine for cooking. You can also use 1/2 tsp of sugar if you need.
- Minced Garlic – Freshly chopped or minced garlic works. You can also add 1/2 tsp of ginger for an extra flavour hit if you like.
- Vegetable Oil – Using an oil such as peanut, corn or canola will allow you to slow cook the mushrooms without the pan smoking because of their high smoke points.
How to make mushrooms in soy sauce:
- Pull out the mushroom stems by pushing away from you with both thumbs until they ‘pop’ out.
- Mix the soy sauce, mirin and garlic in a small pouring dish or jug.
- Pour the soy mixture into the mushrooms ‘cups’.
- Drizzle the oil into a saucepan over low heat and carefully place the mushrooms into the pan. Cook slowly for about 10-15 minutes until the soy mixture starts to bubble. Add more oil if necessary to prevent them from sticking.
- Once the mushrooms have softened, flip them over and continue to cook for another 10 minutes or so.
- Flip occasionally, until the sauce has reduced, covering the mushrooms to become dark and sticky.
- Serve whole, or sliced.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Mushroom Stems – If you want to reduce waste, you can slice off the very ends of the stalks and add them into the mushrooms once you’ve flipped the cups over so the stalks can cook and take on the flavour as well.
- For the best flavour and most tender sticky mushrooms, allow them to cook slowly over a low heat. This will ensure there’s plenty of time for all that flavour to soak into the mushrooms, giving them a gorgeous glossy coat and sticky caramelised edges.
- To clean the mushrooms prior to cooking, wipe them with a damp cloth or lightly rinse in cool water (only if they’re really dirty) and pat dry with a paper towel. Avoid soaking them.
- Serve them whole, garnished with slices of spring onion and a little shichimi spice mix, or slice them up into neat little bite-sized strips – it’s totally up to you!
- Servings – This recipe is for 2 people, and 3 mushrooms per person. Double the recipe for 4 people and so on.
- Leftover mushrooms? Make a mushroom pate!
- Sauces – Try these mushrooms with other classic Japanese sauces like unagi sauce, yakitori sauce or umami sauce!
FAQs
Use any kind of mushroom with a deep cup shape – brown, white button or shiitake mushrooms can hold a lot of marinade and really allow the flavour to soak in.
Give yourself plenty of time – around 20 – 30 minutes – for these mushrooms to slow cook on the stove while you prepare or cook your other main dishes. Some people like to cook them and stop early to leave a little sauce to drizzle over, while others like to cook it longer until there’s no liquid and it all clings to the mushrooms.
These sticky mushrooms are rich and full of umami flavour. They’re perfect as an entree to Japanese dishes, or served up with fluffy sushi rice, or sautéed vegetables. We love having them with Japanese Okonomiyaki and Miso Soup.
Here’s some more vegan recipe ideas:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment & star rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 brown, white button or shiitake mushrooms stalks removed
- 4 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp mirin
- 1 tsp garlic
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Pull out the mushroom stems by pushing away from you with both thumbs until they 'pop' out.6 brown, white button or shiitake mushrooms
- Mix the soy sauce, mirin and garlic in a small pouring dish or jug.4 tsp soy sauce, 2 tsp mirin, 1 tsp garlic
- Pour the soy mixture into the mushroom's 'cups'.
- Drizzle the vegetable oil into a saucepan over low medium heat and carefully place the mushrooms into the pan. Cook slowly for about 10-15 minutes until the soy mixture starts to bubble. Add more oil if necessary to prevent them from sticking.1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Once the mushrooms have softened, flip them over and continue to cook for another 10 minutes or so.
- Flip occasionally, until the sauce has reduced, covering the mushrooms to become dark and sticky.
- Serve whole, or sliced.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Ingredient tips:
- Mushrooms – We use both white button mushrooms and shiitake varieties for this recipe. You can use almost any mushroom as long as it has a deep enough cup to hold the sauce liquid while it slowly cooks.
- Soy Sauce – Japanese style Kikkoman soy sauce works for this dish. You can also sub with tamari.
- Mirin – Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine for cooking. You can also use 1/2 tsp of sugar if you need.
- Minced Garlic – Freshly chopped or minced garlic works. You can also add 1/2 tsp of ginger for an extra flavour hit if you like.
- Vegetable Oil – Using an oil such as peanut, corn or canola will allow you to slow cook the mushrooms without the pan smoking because of their high smoke points.
- Mushroom Stems – If you want to reduce waste, you can slice off the very ends of the stalks and add them into the mushrooms once you’ve flipped the cups over so the stalks can cook and take on the flavour as well.
- To clean mushrooms prior to cooking, wipe them with a damp cloth or lightly rinse in cool water (only if they’re really dirty) and pat dry with a paper towel. Avoid soaking them.
- Serve whole, garnished with slices of spring onion and a little shichimi spice mix, or slice them up into neat little bite-sized strips – it’s totally up to you!
- Servings – This recipe is for 2 people, and 3 mushrooms per person. Double the recipe for 4 people and so on.
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32 Comments
Anonymous
08/09/2021 at 2:19 amWe loved this!! Thank you for a wonderful, reliable recipe!!!
Wandercooks
08/09/2021 at 1:11 pmAwesome, thanks for letting us know!
Jeannette
08/10/2019 at 10:17 pmThey look absolutely INCREDIBLE. I know this is something I’ll have to try out with my mum! Thanks for sharing!
Wandercooks
09/10/2019 at 4:36 pmHope you guys enjoy it, would love to know what you think!
Danielle
08/10/2019 at 9:33 pmThese sound incredible! I love dishes like this that you can serve as appetizers. And the soy adds such a great flavor!
Wandercooks
09/10/2019 at 4:36 pmYes, so versatile and so yum!
Alexandra
08/10/2019 at 9:23 pmSo delicious and packed full of flavour!
I have never had a better mushroom dish before!
Wandercooks
09/10/2019 at 4:35 pmAww, thanks Alex! Hope you enjoy them 🙂
Elaine
08/10/2019 at 9:11 pmMy favorite part about making these mushrooms is that these mushrooms cook themselves lol Love easy dishes that taste like heaven and look amazing!
Wandercooks
09/10/2019 at 4:34 pmExactly! High five to that haha
Mahy
08/10/2019 at 8:55 pmI get excited every time I see a mushroom recipe. I love mushrooms because they give an incredible flavor like no other ingredient does. Looks nice and so inviting!
Wandercooks
09/10/2019 at 4:34 pmAgreed, and the soy complements the mushroom flavour so deliciously.
Danielle
08/10/2019 at 8:52 pmThere are a few flavors that work incredible well with mushrooms and soy sauce flavor is one of them – they are too good together! Love how cute these are – great entertainer for small to medium parties!
Wandercooks
09/10/2019 at 4:34 pmThanks Danielle!
Anne Murphy
16/01/2016 at 12:26 pmSometimes it seems that everyone I cook for *loves* mushrooms – so I often start special meals with some sort of mushroom appetizer. This just joined the list – looks as if it would be perfect, simmering away on the back burner while I put finishing touches on everything else!
Wandercooks
16/01/2016 at 2:42 pmWhat a great idea, Anne! Completely recommend. So easy to do while you’re concentrating on other things.
Willow
15/01/2016 at 4:25 amI love all of these ingredients, so I know I will love these! Sounds fabulous!
Wandercooks
16/01/2016 at 2:36 pmGreat to hear, have fun cooking! 🙂
Brian Jones
13/01/2016 at 6:44 pmHow wonderfully simple and they sound delicious!
Wandercooks
14/01/2016 at 2:11 pmYep, so simple Brian! Alllllmost set and forget haha
Kathryn @ FoodieGirlChicago
09/01/2016 at 2:15 amThese would make a lovely party appetizer, and I bet they would be great paired with a number of different noodle and rice dishes.
Wandercooks
10/01/2016 at 5:23 pmDefinitely! Depending on their size, you can slice them up so they are slightly smaller and serve with food picks. They were a huge hit with our friends and family at our going away party. 🙂
Christie
09/01/2016 at 1:22 amI wonder if this is like a recipe we had in a Chinese restaurant that we have never seen again. It was the best mushrooms I’ve ever had. I have to try these ASAP.
Wandercooks
10/01/2016 at 5:21 pmCould be! It’s quite a common flavour mixture in Japan and China. Slow cooking them really lets the flavour absorb. Hope you enjoy Christie! 🙂
Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs
08/01/2016 at 8:52 pmHow jealous am I of your travels!? Japan has been on my must-visit list for ages but can’t seem to find the time or money to take a break – boo! In the meantime I’ll just have to make these adorable sticky mushrooms to make myself feel better 🙂 thanks for sharing!
Wandercooks
08/01/2016 at 10:40 pmJapan in our favourite! Hope you can make it one day. In the meantime hopefully these mushrooms will bring some Japanese flavour to your day! 🙂
Tracy @ Served from Scratch
08/01/2016 at 6:05 pmOh my gosh I bet these are amazing and make an elegant party snack!
Wandercooks
08/01/2016 at 7:44 pmAbsolutely Tracy! Assuming they last that long… 😉
Martin @ The Why Chef
07/01/2016 at 6:23 pmI’ve been looking for a decent accompaniment for my teriyaki noodles! I can taste the garlic-soy-umami-goodness already!
Would using sesame oil bring anything to the party, or will the low smoke point ruin it a bit?
Wandercooks
07/01/2016 at 8:32 pmAbsolutely Martin! Sesame oil will work perfectly for this dish, we’ve used it a few times ourselves actually. Your teriyaki noodles sound delish – match made in heaven! Enjoy 🙂