We’re transforming the traditional Mexican Birria into a spectacular vegan / plant based feast in five mouth-watering ways! We’re showcasing the versatility and rich flavors of oyster mushrooms. From classic inspired Birria Tacos, filled with juicy, spiced sustainable, all natural mushrooms that mimic the texture and taste of the traditional meat filling. We dive into comfort food with a soul-warming Lentil Birria Bowl, a perfect blend of hearty protein packed lentils and aromatic birria spices., we’ll craft a ‘Pulled Pork’ style sandwich using our birria mushrooms, offering a vegan twist on a beloved classic. And finally, we’ll batter and fry some of our spiced mushrooms to create ‘Fried Chicken’, serving them in tacos and on their own for an extra crispy, utterly delicious experience. Whether you’re a long-time vegan or just looking to explore plant-based comfort food, these recipes will introduce you to the incredible potential of oyster mushroom flavors, textures, and culinary chef craft creativity!
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Tip o’ the hat to @andy_cooks for the intro inspo. Aces mate!
Mushroom Birria Base
Ingredients
1.5 Lbs Oyster mushrooms (more or less)
5 -6 dried Guajillo chiles
2 -3 dried Cascabel chiles
2 – 4 Arbol chile (optional for extra heat)
7 cloves garlic
1 medium onion, quartered
4 ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon black pepper corns
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 -4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 lemon, juiced
Salt to taste
3.5 cups vegetable broth
For the Tacos:
500g (about 1 pound) oyster mushrooms, shredded
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste
Corn tortillas
Vegan cheese (optional)
Chopped onions, cilantro, and lime wedges for garnish
Instructions
Birria Sauce: Toast Chiles: Remove stems and seeds from the chiles. Toast them in a dry pan over medium heat until they start to puff up and release their aroma. Be careful not to burn them.
Reconstitute Chiles: Place the toasted chiles in a pot with boiling water for about 10 minutes until they soften.
Blend Sauce Ingredients: In a blender, combine the softened chiles, garlic, onion, tomato. Blend until smooth. Add left over liquid from soaking the chillies.
Simmer the Sauce: Pour the blended sauce into a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Adjust salt to taste.
Prepare the Oyster Mushrooms:
Cook Mushrooms: In a large oven safe pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add the oyster mushrooms and press a couple times on each side to sear and caramelize. Cook until they’re nicely browned and reduced in size, about 10 minutes.
Mix with Sauce: Add enough birria sauce to the cooked mushrooms to coat them generously. Stir well and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes, allowing the mushrooms to absorb the flavors of the sauce. Then cover and pop in a 180C / 350F oven and cook an additional 45 mins. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Strain the mushrooms from the broth (save the broth) and separate according to which recipe you want to do.
Assemble the Tacos:
Mince mushrooms and sauté with diced onion
Heat Tortillas: dip the in the broth and warm the corn tortillas on a skillet
Spoon the mushroom mixture onto each tortilla. If using, sprinkle some vegan cheese on top.
Garnish with a side of broth with chopped onions and cilantro.
Lentils:
1 cup Green speckled lentils
3.5 cups broth/water
2 celery stalks, diced
2 carrots, diced
Teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Bring lentils to a boil then lower to a medium simmer until cooked soft
Crispy Fried Birria ‘Chicken’ Mushrooms
INGREDIENTS:
Birria broth marinated Oyster Mushrooms
3 parts all-purpose flour and 1 part cornstarch (3 cups: 1 cup for one batch)
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Juice of 1 lemon
3 cups Plant-based milk
1 cup birria sauce (for dipping or tossing)
Instructions:
Dry Batter: In a bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour and cornstarch. Add the white pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Stir to combine evenly.
Wet Ingredients: plant-based milk, lemon juice, ½ cup Birria and mix together
Dip and Coat: Heat oil in a deep fryer or a large pot to 350°F (175°C). Dip each mushroom piece into the batter, TWICE, allowing any excess to drip off.
Fry the Mushrooms: Carefully place the coated mushrooms into the hot oil. Fry in batches to avoid overcrowding, which can cause the mushrooms to stick together and not crisp up properly.
Fry the mushrooms until they are golden brown and crispy, about 3-5 minutes depending on their size.
Drain: Remove the mushrooms from the oil and let them drain on a wire rack or paper towels to remove excess oil. FRY TWICE
Serve: Serve the crispy fried mushrooms with a side of warm birria sauce for dipping, or toss them in the sauce for an extra flavor kick.
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Share Innovative traditional and non-traditional dishes not just plantbase but delicious plantbase free from animals Let’s Just Jump Right In here’s where we just want to remove seeds from the chilies now you don’t have to do this if you like it spicy you’re going to go on your play date I’ll see you soon okay give me kiss okay come on I’m going to add some hot water to
Reconstitute them we’re going to toast off seven cloves of garlic cumin seed coriander seed black peppercorn one cinnamon stick three cloves smells delicious everything but the cinnamon stick garlic bed Roma tomatoes onion just chopped really get some extra depth of flavor going to remove the garlic
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The cook and it just keeps building and building and layering flavors upon flavors and that’s what we’re all about press it one more time and then we’re going to season it look at that sear on that that’s going to be a ton of flavor flip these
Going to add a glug or two of olive oil add a little bit of hot water to this just to get the extra spices out the sauce going to strain that we’re going to make the con cons now it’s getting some really nice color going to add one onion that I
Julian this is going to be the salsa just to make sure we don’t waste anything my consum right here also have some veg broth I probably won’t use this all not going to forget to add the cinnamon stick needs a little bit more salt feel the flavor exuding from this
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Faster but I’m looking for that flavor and I get a little bit of time frankie’ll be back soon so take care of your thing and it’ll always take care of you back cleaning as I go sirious sweetheart set the timer for 30 minutes please good girl smells
Delicious wow so rich and deep with the sear and that flavor really really makes it pop makes it sink yum this is gold I’m going to save half of this I split up the mushroom these and these right here I’m leaving these ones whole these ones I’m going to mince one onion
Coriander keep these fresh by wetting a paper towel then I pop them in the fridge until I need them you hungry this is a smoky vegan cheese I’m just going to grate it oh cranky just about a tablespoon of oatly Greek yogurt mix it up this is the best
Meltable creamy vegan cheese that I can make of my own I have Miss Frankie to do some of the dishes for the next bit oil finally you can get some corn tortillas cuz you really want corn tortillas for this some reason in the UK major retailers do not sell corn tortillas and
They should all of them broth here dipping some of the cheese some of the filling broth chopped onions and some of the coriander cilantro I’m so psyched to eat this it’s going to be a little messy it’s tacos wow wow and that cheese really rounds it out nicely it’s super creamy
Super good in the consume super rich flavor the depth serve this in any restaurant much healthier alternative this is fantastic okay green speckled lentils one cup some of the broth 1 and 1/2 cups of this just I just added water to this to clean it
Out another 1 and 1/2 cups so three cups of liquid some celery two carrots washed take the ends off I do not peel them great way to practice knife skills just take your time but I want everything small like the lentil bring that to a boil and then lower it to a
Simmer delicious lentils check those out just have a little bit of olive oil and then greens just cut them up a little bit of boiling water strained them out ran them onto some cold water squeezed them out and then this is the greens so garlicky greens I chopped up two cloves
Of garlic I’m going to add some baby spinach a good handful sprinkle of salt once WL I’m just going to turn the heat down that’s it super Hardy extra Bea broth chopped raw onions cilantro coriander super satisfying meal high in protein it’s another great way to use that broth all that flavor right
There paired with those greens yum I love lentil eat them all the time up te there you go sweetie so this next one I’m going to pull them sometimes it’s easier to use the for could pull apart real Easy little bit of that broth all right now I get to try this I’m going to add some tortillas cuz I like that extra crunch in my sandwiches and this looks freaking delicious oh baby wow I don’t think I can make this any better and just that little crunch of those
Tas delicious mushrooms for this next party trick I have the bira mushrooms a lot like like fried chicken much better used to working in a restaurant so I use these half deep inserts 50/50 ratio flour to cornstarch or corn flour I used white pepper a little bit of onion powder garlic and
Some a little bit of salt in both of these oat milk with lemon juice and a little bit of that beeria sauce wet dry wet dry done toss it around get in all those nooks and crannies going for extra crispy all right so I’m going to double batter
It it’s going to look like this just going to do that with all of I wash my hands oil up to about 350° F to get that crunch I love so much double fry them before I fry them off the second time I’m just letting them
Sit there for now I’m going to make two sauces to go with him a spoonful of the Bea Agave cover the jalapenos like a hot honey but with the Agave the second sauce vegan Mayo spoon of the Bea coriander cilantro and a jalapeno squeeze of lime salt two SAU we do the double
Fry salt garlic one way to have them is just like this at that’s beautiful M dang with the jalapeno on there sweet spicy delicious tacos fresh warm corn tortillas greens onions the jalapenos these are ridiculous now we’ll do the Fried Chicken jalapenos some of that hot Agave oh baby
Coriander crazy crazy delicious look at that see how meaty that is absurd what are the kids saying now slaps fantastic that was absolutely delicious plant-based to the next level if you want to see some more check out these videos right here and I appreciate you so much thank you