I love a good curry, and chicken of the woods mushrooms make a great one. Sulphur shelf mushrooms have a flavor and texture reminiscent of chicken so they're a shoe-in for a good mushroom curry. It's one of my all-time favorite vegan mushroom recipes.
And they're so good the carnivore in me doesn't complain about vegetarian dinner. Here I'm using white-pored chicken of the woods, but yellow pored chickens and other wild mushrooms like hen of the woods, chanterelles, and lobster mushrooms would be good too.
A decent bowl of Thai red curry is a pretty simple thing to make, but I don't usually make it unless I have a couple specific ingredients.
The most important is some Thai red curry paste, and a couple of aromatics like lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves. If you have an Asian market near you these are pretty easy to come by. If you don't just order some red curry paste online and skip the rest, if you have to.
Here's a quick intro on the other ingredients in case you're unfamiliar. I get mine from Dragon Star Oriental Market in St. Paul.
Galangal
I go out of my way to get a little galangal for all kinds of soups and curries I make with coconut milk. Galangal is a rhizome like ginger and wasabi. It's hard to cut with a knife, and you won't be eating it, but the lemongrass-meets-ginger flavor it gives to broths is fantastic.
Just like ginger, you can buy large pieces of galangal a store, cut them into chunks and store them in a bag in a freezer to pull out whenever you need.
Lime Leaves
Kaffir lime leaves are easy to find if you have an Asian market near you. Sometimes they'll be available fresh near the herbs and greens. If you can't find them fresh most stores have small bags in the frozen section and they work just fine. You can also use fresh lime leaves off a tree, but the flavor isn't exactly the same.
Curry Paste
I use the curry paste in a can as it's what my great uncle who lived in Thailand for many years showed me. Making curry paste is an art form and I don't usually try making it myself, although ramp leaves make a good green curry paste.
Toasted Rice
I like to serve it with rice, but not just any rice. Typical rice usually needs to be soaked or rinsed to remove some of the starch, but sometimes I don't feel like doing that.
A great hack you can use for cooking rice in general is toasting it before cooking instead of rinsing. Toasting the rice in a little oil (roughly two teaspoons per cup) before cooing gives it roasted, toasty notes.
Beyond adding a good flavor, toasting also denatures the starch coating the grains, which means it cooks into perfect individual kernels every time. Even if you don't like curry, try toasting rice sometime and thank me later.
Also, if you have some chicken mushrooms handy, make sure to try my chicken fried chicken of the woods too, it's a reader favorite here.
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Vegetarian and Vegan Mushroom Recipes
Wild Chicken Mushroom Thai Red Curry
Equipment
- 1 2 quart sauce pot
Ingredients
Curry
- 6-8 oz fresh tender chicken of the woods
- 1 can high fat coconut milk
- 1 cup vegetable stock or water
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced lemongrass
- ¼ inch slice of fresh galangal optional but recommended
- 2 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves optional but recommended
- 1 large clove garlic
- 1.5 Tablespoons canned red curry paste add this to taste, some may want more
- Dash of fish sauce optional
- 1-2 teaspoons maple syrup or sugar optional
- A small handful of Thai basil cilantro, or culantro to finish, to taste, optional
Finishing and Serving
- 1-2 teaspoons fresh lime juice to finish
- Cooked rice see note
- Freshly cooked vegetables
Instructions
Curry
- Cut the chicken of the woods mushrooms into bite-sized pieces, then sweat in a sauce pot (2-3 quart capacity) until wilted. If the pan threatens to get dry, add a splash of water or stock.
- Season the mushrooms with salt, push to the side of the pan and add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes more.
- Add the vegetable stock or water and cook 2 minutes more.
- Crush the galangal with the back of a knife or in a mortar and pestle. Lightly crush the lime leaves in your palm to release their aroma.
- Add the lemongrass, coconut milk, curry paste, maple or sugar, fish sauce, and kaffir lime leaves and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 20-30 minutes depending on how thick you like it.
- Double check the seasoning and adjust until it tastes good to you. Add more curry paste before you would add salt, since curry paste from a can is usually very salty.
- If the curry looks too thick, thin it with a bit of water or stock and double check the seasoning again before serving.
Serving
- Right before serving, add a small handful of sliced or torn Thai basil leaves and the lime juice. Serve with rice, cooked vegetables, and a few extra torn leaves of thai basil, cilantro, or culantro.
Video
Notes
To make toasted rice
To make toasted rice, take whatever white rice you like, such as long grain, and put it into a pot with high sides you can stir. Add 1-2 teaspoons of oil per cup, turn the heat to medium high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is lightly browned and smells toasty. Doing this on the stove is imprecise and I usually have some kernels that are more brown than others, which doesn't bother me. If you want the rice perfectly toasted and even-colored, spread it out on a cookie sheet and bake it at 350 until very light brown.Nutrition
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Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms
Dhyana W
Very delicious and quite easy! I do need to plan more ahead next time to get the galangal and lime leaves. I substituted lime zest and some regular lime leaves from a lime tree in my yard, but I know the real thing would have been better. I will definitely make this again.
Alan Bergo
Thanks Dhyana.
Mark
The curry is excellent; really good. However, it overwhelms the chicken-of-the-woods and keeps the mushroom from being the star of the dish. One other thought: like Chef Bergo, I have been collecting chicken-of-the-woods for a long, long time. Having served it to many friends, I have learned that a significant number of people have stomach issues after eating this mushroom. I have found that cooking this mushroom longer to start with (e.g. frying it for 10-15 minutes or so), before using it in recipes seems to breakdown the structure of the mushroom and reduces the number of people that report issues after eating this mushroom.
Alan Bergo
There’s basically two different ways to use mushrooms in a dish: minimalist cooking where the mushroom is at the forefront, and more heavily seasoned dishes like this, where the mushroom blends into the background. If you want to taste only chicken of the woods, make a different recipe, like this Sauteed Chicken of the Woods
Lynda
Definitely going to try this with my COW I’ve been storing in the freezer.
Alan Bergo
Yes they're great for that. I just made it again with some of my frozen ones a week ago.
Keith Martin
My new mentor has unleashed the chef within this forager! My first curry. With my first white spored chicken. AWESOME. And all these years without simple fried chicken. Thank you Alan.
Alan Bergo
Thanks Keith.
Grace Parisi
Found my first cluster of chicken of the woods (in Brooklyn of all places) and cannot wait to try this recipe--looks simple, elegant, and delicious!
Alan Bergo
Thanks Grace.
meyka Paddock
We love "a little heat" in our dishes; I added a minced birds eye chili with the basil right before serving and it was amazing!
Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
Alan Bergo
I definitely support that.
Harry Wininger
Looking forward to this one. I just found a perfect flush along with a bunch of chants. I actually made this dish last year or perhaps the year before and it does work brilliantly but I'm not the genius in the kitchen you are though so, yeah, pretty excited to give this a go.
As ways, thank you for your inspiration.
Cheers,
Harry
Brunafish
Mai take are good. In a pinch straw mushrooms from a can are just fine
Alan Bergo
There's just something about straw mushrooms. Slightly slimy, yet inviting.
Bonnie C.
If one had to use domestically-available mushrooms for this, what varieties would you recommend? Pre-pandamic I could get all sorts of interesting funghi at certain markets, but these days selections are limited. The usual white button & Cremini of course, followed by oyster & sometimes Maitake, Lion's Mane, & very occasionally a few others.