Miso Butter Asian Mushrooms in Foil is a Western-style baked dish converted to a Japanese dish by adding a miso and sake mixture with butter to a pile of mushrooms. The use of Asian mushrooms also makes today’s dish more authentic.
Miso goes surprisingly well with butter. It boosts umami to the cooked mushrooms that are already full of flavour.
Miso Butter Asian Mushrooms in Foil is a very easy vegetarian side dish. Wrap everything in foil and bake it on a frying pan. You can also bake it in the oven, although it takes a touch longer.
You could add non-Asian mushrooms, but I think that Asian mushrooms go better with miso than other mushrooms such as button mushrooms.
What’s in my Miso Butter Asian Mushrooms in Foil
I used 6 kinds of mushrooms, but any combination of Asian mushrooms is ok to make today’s dish. Just make sure the total weight of your mushrooms is similar to the total weight of the 6 mushrooms in the recipe.
- Thinly sliced onion
- Brown shimeji mushrooms
- White shimeji mushrooms
- Shiitake mushrooms
- Pearl oyster mushrooms
- King oyster mushrooms
- Enoki mushrooms
- Sheets of aluminium foil
- Butter to coat the inside of the aluminium foil
Flavouring
- Miso
- Cooking sake
- Butter diced into small cubes
Serving (optional)
- Finely chopped parsley
About Shimeji Mushrooms
Until recently, I could only find shimeji mushrooms with flat grey caps at the shops (left photo below). They are called ‘hiratake shimeji’ in Japanese. But these days, I can buy two other species of shimeji mushrooms at Asian grocery stores.
From left to right: Hiratake shimeji, Buna shimeji, Shiro buna shimeji.
These mushrooms have quite different caps from hiratake shimeji. The caps are round, and the stems are long and straight. One of them has a brown cap, and the other one has a white cap (centre and right photos above). They are called ‘buna shimeji’ (brown shimeji) and ‘shiro buna shimeji’ (white shimeji) respectively. Among those three kinds of shimeji mushrooms, I find that buna shimeji has the best flavour.
In Japan there are more shimeji mushroom species. The shimeji that has the best flavour is called ‘hon shimeji’ (right photo below), which is fatter than buna shimeji. There is a saying that “matsutake mushrooms have the best aroma and shimeji mushrooms have the best taste.” Matsutake (left photo below) is one of the most expensive mushrooms in the world, but when it comes to the taste, shimeji is better. Shimeji in this statement refers to hon shimeji. I have not seen hon shimeji in Sydney, unfortunately.
Matsutake (left) and hon shimeji (right) mushrooms.
How to Make Miso Butter Asian Mushrooms in Foil
There are two ways of baking mushrooms in foil. The step-by-step photo below is the method using a frying pan. You can also bake them in the oven. The oven will take a bit longer, but you can save time when it comes to washing, since you don’t even use a tray to bake the foil bags! You can also bake them on a BBQ with a hood.
- Dilute miso in cooking sake.
- Prepare the mushrooms by cutting them into similar sizes.
- Place down two layers of aluminium foil sheets and butter the centre of the foil where mushrooms will be placed.
- Spread sliced onion, then place mushrooms on the onion.
- Pour the miso mixture and scatter the diced butter over the mushrooms.
- Place a sheet of aluminium foil to cover the mushrooms, then fold sides 2-3 times to make a sealed bag.
- Place the bag in a frying pan, place a lid on and cook for about 18 minutes in total.
- Cut open the foil on top, scatter the parsley over the mushrooms.
You can make one large foil bag to share, or small bags to serve individually. If you want, you can add a knob of butter on the cooked mushrooms as soon as you opened the foil. It will boost the richness of the flavour.
The miso mixture accumulates at the bottom while cooking, so mix the mushrooms before eating.
Miso Butter Asian Mushrooms in Foil is a simple dish and it’s so delicious. This is a great way of consuming a small amount of different mushrooms that are left in your fridge. The leftovers in the foil bag can be reheated in the oven.
Yumiko
Miso Butter Asian Mushrooms in Foil is a Western-style side dish converted to a Japanese dish by adding a miso and sake mixture with butter to a pile of mushrooms and baked in foil. The use of Asian mushrooms also makes today’s dish more authentic. Miso goes surprisingly well with butter. It boosts umami to the cooked mushrooms that are already full of flavour.
Mushrooms in foil can be baked in a frying pan on cooktop as well as in the oven. I included both baking methods in the instructions.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 50g/1.8oz onion thinly sliced
- 80g/2.8oz shiitake mushrooms
- 80g/2.8oz king oyster mushrooms
- 80g/2.8oz enoki mushrooms
- 40g/1.4oz brown shimeji Mushrooms
- 40g/1.4oz white shimeji mushrooms
- 80g/2.8oz pearl oyster mushrooms
- 1 tbsp miso (note 2)
- 3 tbsp cooking sake
- 20-25g/0.7-0.9oz butter cut into about 5mm/3⁄16" cubes
- 1 tbsp parsley finely chopped
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Put miso and cooking sake in a small jar or a bowl and dilute miso until lump free.
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Shiitake mushrooms: Remove the end part of the stem and vertically halve or quarter the mushrooms depending on the size of your mushroom. You may want to use hands to split them after making incisions on the stem end, which will allow the flavours to penetrate better.
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King oyster mushrooms: If the mushroom is very long, halve the length. Then vertically halve or quarter the mushroom depending on the thickness of the stem.
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Enoki mushrooms: Trim off the root section of the mushroom, leaving the bottom part of the stem still intact and clustered. Separate the cluster into small bunches.
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Shimeji and pearl oyster mushrooms: Trim off the base of the cluster, leaving the cluster still intact. Separate the cluster into small bunches of a few stems.
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The mushrooms will be cooked in 2 packets.
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Cut 3 sheets of 35-40cm/13¾-15¾" long aluminium foil of about 30cm/12" wide and place 2 layers of foil sheets on a workbench.
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Butter (not in the ingredients list) the centre of the foil, then spread ½ of the onion slices in the buttered area.
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Place ½ of shiitake, king oyster, enoki, brown shimeji, white shimeji, and pearl oyster mushrooms on the foil (note 3).
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Pour ½ of the miso mixture over the mushrooms evenly, then scatter ½ of the butter cubes over the mushrooms.
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Place the 3rd sheet of foil over the mushrooms, then fold each side a few times to make a sealed bag.
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Repeat for the second bag (note 4).
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Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.
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Place the foil bags in the pan and put a lid on.
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Cook for 3 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium low to low.
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Cook for 10-15 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked through. Make a small opening on the side and check doneness of the mushrooms if unsure.
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Preheat the oven to 220°C/428°F.
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Place the foil bags on the middle shelf of the oven and cook for about 20 minutes until mushrooms are cooked through. Make a small opening on the side and check doneness of the mushrooms if unsure.
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Transfer the foil onto a serving plate. Cut the foil open and scatter chopped parsley over the mushrooms.
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Serve immediately.
1. You don’t need to have all the kinds of Asian mushrooms listed here, but make sure the total weight of the mushrooms is about 400g/0.9lb.
I found two kinds of shimeji mushrooms at the Asian grocery store near my home. They were buna shimeji and white buna shimeji (see the photos in post). I used 40g/1.4oz each of these shimeji mushrooms, but you can have 80g/2.8oz of one kind.
2. Best to use either brown miso or white miso, but not sweet white miso.
3. You can scatter them randomly or place them clustered.
4. If you are serving a dish in one large bag to share, cut sheets of aluminium foil slightly longer and put all ingredients in a bag per the instructions. You might need to cook mushrooms a little longer.
5. As soon as you open the foil on a plate, you can add a knob of butter if you want. It will give an extra richness to the flavour.
To eat, mix the mushrooms first since the miso mixture is accumulated at the bottom of the bag.
6. Leftovers can be reheated in the oven.
7. Nutrition per serving.
serving: 267g calories: 192kcal fat: 9.4g (12%) saturated fat: 5.3g (27%) trans fat: 0.3g polyunsaturated fat: 0.8g monounsaturated fat: 2.2g cholesterol: 22mg (7%) sodium: 405mg (18%) carbohydrates: 18g (7%) dietary fibre: 5.3g (19%) sugar: 4.3g protein: 7.5g vitamin D: 1mcg (4%) calcium: 21mg (2%) iron: 2.3mg (13 %) potassium: 801mg (17%)
Meal Ideas
A typical Japanese meal consists of a main dish, a couple of side dishes, a soup and rice. I try to come up with a combination of dishes with a variety of flavours, colours, textures and make-ahead dishes.
Today’s side dish, Miso Butter Asian Mushrooms in Foil, has a salty and buttery miso flavour. I think a steamed main dish such as Steamed Pork Meatballs Coated with Corn goes well with it. The yellow of the corn kernels brightens up the dining table.
I picked a winter melon for Side dish 2 to give a variety of textures and colours to the meal. I think that clear soup goes better with today’s dish than miso soup.
- Main: Steamed Pork Meatballs with Corn – you can make ahead.
- Side dish 1: Miso Butter Asian Mushrooms in Foil – today’s recipe.
- Side dish 2: Winter Melon with Thickened Shrimp Sauce – or other side dish with mild flavouring.
- Soup: Roasted Seaweed Soup (Nori Sui) – or other clear soup.
- Rice: Cooked Rice.
Hi.
Just curious, will steaming work?
I have a rice cooker with a steaming tray on top and I am just thinking to save some efforts by cooking rice & mushrooms together. =)
Hi Josie, because there will be no slightly burnt sections at the bottom of the foil due to steaming, the fragrance might be touch different if steamed. But I cannot see why you can’t do it in your rice cooker. You may need to put the mushrooms part way through cooking rice depending on how long it takes to cook rice.
Does baking the miso cause it to lose its probiotic benefits by killing the bacteria? This is a delicious and easy recipe, by the way!
Hi Quentin, heating miso kills the bacteria. However the dead bacteria becomes the food for other probiotics and helps increase probiotics.
Hi Yumiko
Is it possible to swap the cooking sake with a non alcoholic alternative?
Thank you.
Hi Razlyn, for this recipe, Miso Butter Asian Mushrooms in Foil, I would suggest that you replace sake with water and a very small amount of dashi powder. If the recipe calls for only 1 tablespoon or less of cooking sake, you can replace it with water. If cooking sake is the main ingredient, such as Sakamushi, then I am afraid it is difficult to replace with alternatives.
By the way, I cooked Miso Butter Asian Mushrooms in Foil only last night because Nagi (recipetineats.com) came over to have dinner with me. Nagi loved it so much!
Thank you Yumiko!
Very helpful advice. And yes I am familiar with Nagi’s recipetin eats. I am a fan of both recipetineats and this website!
I made these mushrooms in the oven, my sauce burned a little on the tin foil but the burnt taste luckily did not penetrate the mushrooms. They were delicious. I made then for breakfast with a combination you may think strange but i and others eating thought it was really nice. I lightly sautéed some greens i had. (Baby spinach, silverbeet and rocket) with some rosemary from the garden. Lovely healthy breakfast thank you
Hi Rachel, fantastic!
This was delicious! I made this for my family (it was a hit) alongside miso soup, pork and a few other side dishes. So simple but tasty. I’ll definitely be making this again.
Hi Amanda, great! That sounds like you had a great meal.