I’ve been wanting more recipes where mushrooms aren’t there to accompany chicken, beef or another main ingredient.
This is definitely one of them.
Using several varieties together makes more sense to me than simply adding a huge quantity of button mushrooms. Shiitake brings a stronger savoury flavour, king oyster gives the dish a much meatier texture, and Swiss browns are excellent for getting plenty of browned mushroom flavour into the pan.
The important part is cooking them before making the sauce.
If the mushrooms, noodles and sauce all go into the pan together, the mushrooms release water and mostly steam. Instead, I give them plenty of space and let them brown properly first.
Only then do I add garlic, butter and a sauce made from white miso, mirin and soy.
The result is rich and savoury without needing cream, meat or a complicated sauce. And because udon only needs a few minutes, most of the actual cooking time is spent getting the mushrooms right.
This is also exactly the sort of recipe I had in mind when putting together my Cooking with Mushrooms & Fungi guide: choose mushrooms based on what you want them to contribute, rather than treating every mushroom as interchangeable.
Miso Butter Mushroom Udon
Ingredients
- 150 g Swiss brown mushrooms
- 100 g king oyster mushrooms
- 100 g fresh shiitake mushrooms
- 1 tbsp neutral cooking oil
- 15 g unsalted butter
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- Black pepper
- 30 g white miso paste about 1½ tbsp
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 30 g unsalted butter
- 60 ml hot water or reserved udon cooking water
- Noodles
- 400 g fresh, frozen or vacuum-packed udon noodles
- 2 spring onions finely sliced
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- Shichimi togarashi or chilli flakes optional
- Nori finely shredded, optional
Method
- Prepare the mushrooms
- Clean the mushrooms and trim away any tough ends.
- Slice the Swiss browns into relatively thick slices.
- Remove the tough stems from the shiitake and slice the caps.
- Cut the king oyster mushrooms lengthways into thick slices, then cut or tear them into bite-sized pieces.
- I actually like tearing some of the king oyster rather than making every piece perfectly uniform. The irregular surfaces create more edges that can brown.
- Make the sauce
- In a small bowl, combine:
- White miso
- Mirin
- Light soy
- Rice vinegar
- 60 ml hot water
- Whisk until the miso has completely dissolved.
- Don’t add the 30 g finishing butter yet.
- Taste the sauce.
- It should seem quite strongly seasoned on its own because it still has to flavour 350 g mushrooms + 400 g udon.
- Heat the pan properly
- Use your largest frying pan.
- Heat it over medium-high to high heat until properly hot.
- Add the neutral oil.
- Brown the mushrooms
- Add the mushrooms in a reasonably open layer.
- If your pan isn’t large enough, cook them in two batches.
- This matters.
- Leave the mushrooms alone for around 2 minutes before moving them.
- Toss and continue cooking for another 4–5 minutes, allowing different surfaces to make contact with the hot pan.
- You’re looking for genuinely browned edges rather than simply softened mushrooms.
- If they’ve released a lot of water, keep cooking until that moisture has evaporated.
- Add the first butter
- Reduce the heat slightly.
- Add 15 g butter and toss it through the browned mushrooms.
- Add the garlic and plenty of black pepper.
- Cook for around 30 seconds, just until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- The mushrooms should now be glossy and deeply browned.
- Transfer them temporarily to a plate if you’re worried they’ll overcook while preparing the noodles.
- Prepare the Udon
- Loosen the noodles
- Prepare the udon according to the packet directions.
- Fresh or vacuum-packed udon usually only needs a short time in boiling water to loosen.
- Don’t aggressively boil it for several minutes unless the particular noodles you’re using require it.
- Before draining, reserve a little cooking water.
- Drain well.
- Bring Everything Together
- Add the sauce
- Return the mushrooms to the pan if you removed them.
- Keep the heat around medium.
- Pour in the miso mixture.
- Let it bubble for approximately 30–60 seconds.
- You’re not trying to reduce this into a thick glaze before adding the noodles.
- Add the udon
- Add the drained udon.
- Toss everything together until the noodles are completely coated and the mushrooms are distributed throughout.
- Cook for approximately 1–2 minutes.
- If the sauce becomes too thick, add another splash of udon water.
- If it looks watery, keep tossing over the heat for another 30 seconds.
- The starch from the noodles will help the sauce cling.
- Finish with butter
- Turn off the heat.
- Add the remaining 30 g cold butter.
- Toss vigorously until the butter melts and emulsifies with the miso sauce.
- This is the point where the sauce should become glossy and coat the udon rather than sitting as watery liquid at the bottom of the pan.
- Taste before adding any salt.
- Between the miso and soy sauce, you probably won’t need it.
- Finish
- Add most of the sliced spring onion and toss briefly.
- Divide between two bowls.
- Top with the remaining spring onion and sesame seeds.
- If you want some heat, finish with a little shichimi togarashi.
- Finely shredded nori also works particularly well here.
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