How about a plate of delicious Vietnamese Banh Mi pulled mushroom tacos this weekend? Yes, mushrooms!
I was recently gifted some King Oyster mushrooms by Spore Shore here in Belfast and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to create these moreish mushroom tacos.
Spore Shore is an urban mushroom farm based in Northern Ireland who specialise in gourmet mushroom varieties. Connor founded the business and is keen to promote local and sustainable food sources in a time where there is a high demand for high-quality local products.
Originating on the streets of Saigon, the Vietnamese Banh Mi is a street-food sandwich – a French-Vietnamese hybrid consisting of an airy baguette, sour pickled daikon and carrot, crisp coriander, spicy chilli, and a cool sliver of cucumber surrounding any type of meat.
I’ve twisted the concept and made these delicious vegan Vietnamese Banh Mi pulled mushroom tacos!
I loaded my banh mi pulled mushroom filling in some small tortillas and dressed them with a dollop of homemade sriracha vegan mayo, homemade pickled daikon and carrot, plus fresh coriander, cucumber, chilli and spring onion in keeping with the traditional meal.
Safe to say, these are heaven on a plate – especially if you’re a fan of Vietnamese food.
These make ideal appetisers, starters or three tacos make a light main.
If you’re short for time, you can PIN this recipe for Vietnamese Banh Mi pulled mushroom tacos so you can revisit it later.
Using oyster mushrooms in cooking:
With their umami flavour and meaty texture, Oyster mushrooms are perfect as a meat substitute in vegan cooking. Their texture is often likened to abalone or scallops, which makes them a versatile option for vegan ‘seafood’ dishes as well.
Native to the Mediterranean, they are perhaps most used in Asian cuisines such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean; three countries where the mushroom is cultivated on a large scale.
Hence why I thought they’d be well-suited for this vegan twist on traditional vegan banh mi.
Are there health benefits of this banh mi pulled mushroom tacos recipe?
In recent developments of scientific research, studies have found that Oyster mushrooms produce Lovastatin naturally, which is a drug used in treating excessive blood cholesterol.
They are also known to have incredibly high levels of the antioxidant, ergothioneine, which is widely known to decrease inflammation within the body and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Therefore, oyster mushrooms are a brilliant superfood to incorporate into your cooking.
Where can you buy oyster mushrooms?
Spore Shore is a local provider of gourmet mushrooms here in Northern Ireland. So perhaps you could research to see if there are any urban mushroom farms near you.
Alternatively, if you live near an International Asian supermarket, this will be the best place to get them along with all the other ingredients for this recipe.
The following UK supermarkets also stock them:
- Tesco
- Asda
- M&S
- Waitrose
Just one hour from start to finish, these vegan Vietnamese Banh Mi Mushroom Tacos are absolutely delicious and will blow over guests and turn mushroom haters into lovers!
Due to there being a few elements to this dish, I have broken down the recipe method into the following sections to make it easier for you to follow:
- Step 1 – Pickled Daikon & Carrot
- Step 2 – Banh Mi Pulled Mushrooms
- Step 3 – Toppings
- Step 4 – Finishing touches
- Step 5 – Build the tacos
There’s a couple of steps within each of these to follow. Enjoy the process!
I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments once you’ve tried this recipe. I’m sure you will adore the taste and be delighted by how yummy a Life Without Meat can be.
If you love Asian cuisine, then you might want to try the following recipes too:
- Thai Green Curry Noodle Stew with white beans and Jackfruit
- Thai Papaya Salad
- VEGAN Bao Buns with Tasty Katsu ‘Chicken’ & Fragrant Herbs
- Mouthwatering Vegan Katsu Curry – particularly one to try if you’re missing eating out in Wagamamas as regularly 😉
Much Love,
G x
TASTY Vegan Vietnamese Banh Mi Mushroom Tacos
Taco 'bout TASTY! You've got to try these - moreish pickled daikon and carrot, fresh coriander, spicy chilli, and a cool sliver of cucumber loaded into Vietnamese Banh Mi mushroom tacos.
Ingredients
For the pickled daikon & carrot:
- Two carrots, julienne peeled
- Half a large daikon, julienne peeled
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- Juice of 1 lime
For the Banh Mi Pulled Mushrooms:
- 300g Oyster mushrooms
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp tamari
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp of agave nectar
- ½ tsp of sesame oil
- Two large garlic cloves crushed/ 1 tsp garlic puree.
- 20g fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- One white onion, finely chopped
- ¼ tsp siracha
- Two limes, juiced
Extra toppings:
- ½ cucumber, shaven
- A handful of fresh coriander, chopped
- One large chilli, finely chopped
- 3 Spring onion, chopped
- Siracha vegan mayo (2 tbsp vegan mayo + 2 tsp sriracha hot sauce)
Instructions
Step 1 - Pickled Daikon & Carrot
- First, let’s make our homemade pickled daikon and carrot. These will need to pickle for at least an hour before serving with the tacos, so this is the first thing you need to make. Feel free to pre-make this, as with all fermented foods; it can keep well.
- After washing the veg, use a julienne peeler to peel the carrot and daikon. You can keep the skin on as the skin of root vegetables is rich in nutrients.
- Next, make the pickle marinade by mixing together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, salt, light brown sugar and lime juice.
- Combine the peeled carrot and daikon with the marinade and
place in the fridge to pickle for an hour.
Step 2 - Banh Mi Pulled Mushrooms
- Next, you can prepare your pulled mushrooms. First, pre-heat
your oven to 200C. Prepare your Oyster mushrooms by roughly tearing them into strips to create the ‘pulled’ texture. Stay mindful that mushrooms do shrink in size when cooked, so don’t go too small. - Mix together all of the remaining ingredients listed for the Banh Mi Pulled Mushrooms above in a small bowl to make the marinade - (light soy sauce, tamari, light brown sugar, agave nectar, sesame oil, garlic, fresh ginger, white onion, sriracha hot sauce, and lime juice).
- Place your shredded Oyster mushrooms on a baking tray and evenly coat them with two-thirds of the marinade. Place in the oven for 25 minutes.
Step 3 - The toppings
- While the mushrooms cook in the oven, we can use that time
to prepare the rest of our toppings. Use a peeler to shave half a cucumber into strips. Chop up some fresh coriander, chilli and spring onion. Mix the vegan mayonnaise with hot sriracha sauce in a small bowl to make the sriracha vegan
mayo.
Step 4 - Finishing touches
- Once the mushrooms have roasted, fry them off in a hot non-stick pan which will encourage them to crisp a little in places. You can spoon over the remaining mushroom marinade for extra flavour.
- Pop the tortillas directly on to the top shelf of the oven
for 1-2 minutes to heat through (2 per person).
Step 5 - Build your tacos
- Finally, build your tortillas. Lay a warm tortilla on a
board or plate. Add a spoonful of the siracha vegan mayo to the base. Follow that with a couple of spoonful’s of fried pulled mushrooms, some of the pickled daikon and carrot and a few strips of shaven cucumber. - Finish off with a sprinkling of fresh coriander, spring onion and fresh chilli.
