Hongos Japoneses a la Parilla

Japanese Mushrooms with Yuzu Kosho

Mushrooms didn’t really make appearances on our family dinner table growing up. I’m not sure why. Look closely on many ancient Moche ceramics, and you will see drawings of mushrooms among the other crops and religious symbols. When I was working in Japanese restaurants in London, I was so inspired by all of the different mushroom varieties—long, skinny enoki; flowerlike maitake; short, stout bunashimeji; and the more common shiitake. You could make a meal out of mushrooms alone. They’re especially good with yuzu kosho (see page 33), an incredibly flavorful Japanese green chile pepper paste with yuzu juice. The heat of the peppers is balanced by a good amount of salt, so you have all of these intense flavors playing off the charred, grilled mushrooms.

If you’ve already got the grill going, it takes all of a few minutes to mix together this basting sauce and toss on some mushrooms. You could also put everything briefly under the broiler, or use the same technique in a frying pan with a little more olive oil. I love maitake mushrooms, but oyster mushrooms or whatever Japanese varieties you stumble upon would all be good. If you use mushrooms with denser flesh, like sliced portobellos, you’ll need to cook them a few minutes longer.

Basting the mushrooms regularly helps keep their meat moist. Shiso has a mild flavor similar to mint, which you can substitute.

• 2 tablespoons yuzu kosho
• 2 teaspoons pureed garlic (see page 37)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 large maitake mushrooms (about 1 pound)
• 3 or 4 Japanese shiso leaves or mint leaves, thinly sliced

1 Mix together the yuzu kosho, garlic, and olive oil in a small dish.

2 Prepare a regular or hibachi grill for direct, high-heat cooking and place a fish or vegetable grate on the grill. Halve the mushrooms lengthwise through the stem so you have two meaty, steaklike slices. Brush both sides of the mushrooms lightly with the yuzu kosho sauce.

3 Grill the mushrooms until they begin to soften and char, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip them and brush the top sides lightly with the marinade. Grill the mushrooms until nicely charred on the bottom, a few minutes more. Cut into one to make sure they are cooked through. Flip the mushrooms one more time, brush them again with the sauce, and grill for just a few seconds.

4 Transfer the mushrooms to a plate, sprinkle them with the shiso leaves, and serve them piping hot.