This fried mushroom sandwich is like an M.L.T. Fried cremini mushrooms, a smooth silken tofu aioli, arugula, cucumber, and tomatoes in between a toasted baguette.
There are some foods that will always be close to my heart even if I’ve probably grown out of them. For example, my family had this Saturday lunch tradition where we ate sandwiches with untoasted white bread, Hidden Valley ranch, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a sliced hard-boiled egg. They weren’t the best sandwiches, but I think it was the mere ease and American-ness of it that was so appealing.
Food carries memories, so we did a sandwich Saturday in memory of those egg sandwiches, but with this fried mushroom sandwich. Instead of ranch, I made on a vegan aioli with silken tofu. It gets soft and whipped, kinda like mayo. Then I made some fried battered cremini mushrooms, because it feels like wild mushrooms are getting all the love these days. Even the classic button mushrooms deserve appreciation and they don’t cost a million dollars at the grocery store, so that’s nice.
How to Make Fried Mushroom Sandwiches
Clean your mushrooms
Don’t wash! Just take a paper towel or dish towel and wipe each one down. Squeeze out moisture from the mushrooms.
Prepare the wet batter
You’ll need cornstarch, corn flour, and water. Corn flour helps these mushrooms get nice and crispy, but if you don’t have any, you can also use all-purpose flour or chickpea flour (besan). I would imagine that the results will be similar.
Prepare the dry batter
You’ll need cornstarch and corn flour again, but also a handful of spices you probably have: smoked paprika, garlic powder, and black pepper.
Some things are just not meant to be air fried
I air fried a few of these to see how it would go. Yeah, don’t even bother. They shrivel up and taste like mushroom chips. Not in a good way.
Serve with vegan aioli
An aioli typically contains garlic, salt, olive oil, and eggs. To make it vegan, we use silken tofu and kala namak (black salt) to give it that “eggy” flavor. The kala namak is optional.
You can also use firm tofu, but it will be more dense and less airy, so not like aioli.
Fried Mushroom Sandwich
Ingredients
fried cremini mushrooms
- 6 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced to ¼-inch thick (~ 5-6 mushrooms)
- ¼ cup avocado oil
wet batter
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp corn flour *sub all-purpose flour or chickpea flour
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp water
dry batter
- ¼ cup corn flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp sea salt
vegan aioli
- 350 g silken tofu (1 block)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (~ 1 medium lemon)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1.5 tbsp nutritional yeast
- pinch of sea salt
- ½ tsp dried basil (optional)
- ½ tsp kala namak (black salt)
the sandwich
- baguette or another artisan bread
- olive oil for toasting bread
- arugula
- 2 tomatoes, sliced
- 1 Persian cucumber, sliced
Instructions
- Wipe mushrooms with a paper towel or dish towel. Squeeze some of the excess moisture out. Cut into ¼-inch thick slices.
- Prepare the wet batter: to a wide bowl, mix cornstarch, corn flour, and water. Add water and mix until it is no longer thick.
- Prepare the dry batter: to a separate bowl, add cornstarch, corn flour, spices, and salt.
- Coat the mushrooms: Coat each mushroom first in the wet batter and then the dry batter. Set aside on a plate.
- Fry the mushrooms: Heat a cast iron or another pan over medium heat with avocado oil or another neutral oil. You will need enough oil to cover the base of the pan, which depends on the size of your pan. When the oil is hot, fry the mushrooms for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden-brown and crisp.
- Make the aioli: In a small food processor, process all the ingredients. Adjust lemon juice and salt to taste.
- Prepare the sandwich: Lightly drizzle olive oil on the bread and toast in a pan with the olive oiled side down. Spread aioli on both pieces. Add arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, and fried mushrooms to one bread. Form the sandwich!
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