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Sesame Enoki Pancakes

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sesame enoki mushroom pancakeAs most of you know, I will make cakes and fritters out of just about anything. Wild enoki and sesame pancakes (cultivated are fine too) are a great variation on that theme, but they’re also a good example of how you can steer lots of dishes in different directions by carefully choosing your ingredients. 

Wild enoki mushroom clones or Flammulina velutipes stems

Cultivated enoki are mostly stem, and they cry out to be made into pancakes. You can reserve the caps for making fish-sauce mushroom pickles.

Here’s the jist. My lobster mushroom cakes are one of the most popular recipes on this website, those are made with simple seasonings: some herbs, green onions, salt, and pepper, more or less. They have a mild, mushroomy flavor, and are American/French in inspiration. 

Sesame Enoki Mushroom or Flammulina velutipes Pancakes_-8

Dip the finished cakes in ponzu to drive home the Asian flavor theme.

Another variation on the same theme are the equally popular Hericium Crabcakes. Those taste like crabcakes, because, well, Hericium have a texture that’s reminiscent of crab, but the ingredients also steer the recipe in the direction of crabcake land, since they include Old Bay, mayonnaise, and other things you’d expect in a crab cake. If you’re a mushroom hunter who hasn’t had those yet, or have trouble finding Hericium, search out some cultivated lions mane and do yourself a favor. 

Wild Enoki Mushroom or Flammulina velutipes clones

Wild enoki clones from Unkle Fungus in Pennsylvania. Note the brown coloring on the stem-a result of enoki being grown while being exposed to sunlight. Commercial enoki from the store are pure white. 

Enoki mushrooms (a.k.a. Flammulina velutipes and velvet shank), with their long stems, and lower water content, are a very different creature from the aforementioned mushrooms. Sure I could mix them up into the crabcake mix, but since they’re so beloved in Asian cuisine, I felt that wouldn’t be doing justice to them. So, I turn to the ingredients and flavorings to steer the dish in the direction I want. With the flavors of Japanese cuisine on my mind, here’s the big takeaways I think are helpful to consider. 

Commercial enoki mushrooms or Flammulina velutipes

Commercial enoki as you will see them in the grocery store are white, but they’re the same species of mushroom as the others in this post.

Important flavor factors  

  • Lightly toasted sesame is added along with flour as the binder, which adds a gentle bitter note, and a good pop of sesame flavor anyone familiar with toasted sesame oil will know and love. 
  • The added ingredients are minimal—absolutely no breadcrumbs, which would make them more of a firm cake. Think of these as a delicate pancake of mushroomy-ness. 
  • Instead of finely shredding or chopping the mushrooms into pieces, the enoki, more specifically the stems, are left in longer pieces, about 1 inch, which helps you remember that you’re eating enoki, and not just another mushroom, like, say, a honey mushroom stem. 
  • A dash of fish sauce in addition to salt helps to add umami base notes. 
  • Chinese chives (garlic chives) are cheap and widely available at Asian markets, they’re a nice addition if you can get some. 
  • If you have access to Vietnamese coriander, cilantro, or culantro, it makes a good addition or complimentary note alongside, in say a salad of shaved daikon radishes or cucumbers. 
  • The finished cakes are dipped in my version of ponzu–the final coup de grâce that puts this in Asiatic flavor town.  

sesame enoki mushroom pancake

Removing water isn’t necessary

Real quick, one big difference between all of these mushroom cakes is that the first two with lobster mushroom and Hericium are cooked or macerated to remove water first. Enoki hold far less water than both of those mushrooms, so that isn’t necessary here. All you need to do is cut up the mushrooms, season them up, and let them do their thing. As the mushrooms macerate, you’ll notice the enoki exude a bit of slippery mucilage, a characteristic they share with mushrooms like Armillaria and some Lactarius I’ve cooked, to name two. The mucilage isn’t unpleasant. 

cut mushroom and sesame pancakes

Pancake vs Cakes 

Making large pancakes instead of smaller ones can be fun, and make for easier dipping into sauces and handling with chopsticks. 

sesame enoki mushroom pancake
Regular sesame mix made into a large cake.
sesame enoki mushroom pancake
“Extra crispy mix” made into smaller cakes.

Regular and Extra Crispy 

mashing up cooked rice in a molcajete

Mashing up cooked rice to use as a binder.

I made a number of different versions of this, so I couldn’t just give you one. There’s a regular version that I’d encourage you to try first, then a second “extra-crispy” version that uses a fun ingredient you can manipulate in a number of different ways: overcooked rice (you can substitute potato, acorn or cornstarch in it’s place, too which will add less moisture).

Sesame Enoki Mushroom or Flammulina velutipes Pancakes_-8
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Sesame-Enoki Mushroom Pancakes

Delicate pancakes made from enoki mushrooms, ground sesame, herbs and scallions dipped in ponzu sauce make a great appetizer. Makes about 8 small or 4 larger-sized cakes.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Resting time30 mins
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American, Japanese
Keyword: Enoki, Flammulina velutipes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 6 oz enoki mushrooms
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 4 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds divided, plus a few extra for sprinkling
  • ¼ cup leftover cooked rice
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • 2 oz minced green onions
  • 1 oz garlic chives or chives thinly sliced
  • Flavorless oil for cooking

Instructions

Make the batter

  • Grind half of the sesame seeds to a powder in a spice grinder.
  • Line up the enoki and cut into 1 inch pieces, then add to a mixing bowl with the egg mix, and remaining ingredients. Allow the mixture to rest for 30 minutes to help it set.

Testing and adjusting the flavor

  • Heat a nonstick pan with a film of oil until hot. Drop a teaspoon of the mixture into the pan and cook, then taste and adjust the seasoning for herbs, or a pinch of salt. Be careful not to over season them with salt if you’ll be serving them with the optional sauce, since it also contains salt.

Cook the cakes

  • Drop ¼ cups of the mixture into the hot pan, for individual cakes, or 1/3-½ cups for larger cakes you can cut into wedges, pressing them down into a rustic form.
  • Cook on medium-high to high heat until browned without disturbing them, then flip and cook the other side. If you find the cakes are delicate and difficult for you to work with, consider preheating the oven to 350, then popping the pan in the oven after a minute or two of cooking on the stove, which will help them set.
  • When both sides of the cakes are browned, remove them and keep warm while you cook the rest, then cut into wedges you can pick up with chopsticks.
  • Arrange the cut cakes on warmed plates, top with curls of finely julienned scallions soaked in ice water, sprigs of fresh herbs, a sprinkle of sesame, and the ponzu on the side. They're an excellent starter before a meal of fish.
Print Recipe
4 from 2 votes

Ponzu Sauce

A simple condiment made from soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, lime zest and fermented hot sauce. It will make just about anything taste good.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Course: Condiment
Cuisine: American, Japanese
Keyword: Ponzu
Servings: 4

Ingredients

Ponzu

  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • ¼ teaspoon grated garlic
  • ¼ teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1 teaspoon sriracha
  • ½ Tablespoon fish sauce
  • Zest of ¼ lime

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients and mix well, put in a container with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate.

Sesame enoki mushroom pancakes recipe

Sesame enoki mushroom pancakes recipe
Print Recipe
0 from 0 votes

Enoki Pancakes (extra crispy version)

Pancakes made from enoki mushrooms, herbs, and mashed rice. This recipe will make more cakes than the sesame enoki cakes, and will have a more mild sesame taste.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Resting Time30 mins
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: Enoki, Flammulina velutipes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 6 oz enoki mushrooms
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 tablespoons rice flour
  • ¼ cup leftover cooked rice
  • 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • 2 oz minced green onions
  • Flavorless oil for cooking

Instructions

Rice Paste

  • Warm the leftover rice by microwaving in a sealed container, or immersing in warm water. Puree the eggs and leftover rice in a food processor until smooth.

Batter

  • Line up the enoki and cut into 1 inch pieces, then add to a mixing bowl with the egg mix, and remaining ingredients. Allow the mixture to rest for 30 minutes to help it set.

Testing the flavor

  • Heat a nonstick pan with a film of oil until hot. Drop a teaspoon of the mixture into the pan and cook, then taste and adjust the seasoning for herbs, or a pinch of salt. Be careful not to overseason them with salt if you’ll be serving them with the optional sauce, since it also contains salt.

Cook the cakes

  • Drop ¼ cups of the mixture into the hot pan, pressing them down into rustic cakes.
  • Cook on medium-high to high heat until browned without disturbing them, then flip and cook the other side. If you find the cakes are delicate and difficult for you to work with, consider preheating the oven to 350, then popping the pan in the oven after a minute or two of cooking on the stove, which will help them set.

Serving

  • Serve with the ponzu sauce, julienned scallions soaked in ice water, and sprigs of fresh herbs.

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How you turn in a culinary manuscript 🙏💫😁 How you turn in a culinary manuscript 🙏💫😁🥳 #thatsawrap #36chambersofshaolin #authorlife #trussed #givingbirth #foragerchef
Sesame enoki pancakes (think loosely bound fritter Sesame enoki pancakes (think loosely bound fritters) were a great way to use up my excess enoki stems. 

Cut them into 1 inch lengths, mix with some ground toasted sesame seed, dash of fish sauce and a good handful of culantro, rau ram, or cilantro, an egg, fry them up and dip in some zippy ponzu.

 #enoki #flammulinavelutipes #wildfoodlove #allthemushroomtags #pancakelove
Some nice wild enoki clones from @unkle_fungus Can Some nice wild enoki clones from @unkle_fungus Cant wait until these start popping up when the snow melts. The difference between the coloration of wild ones (pic 1) and cultivated that are white from the lack of sun (pic 2) is always interesting to compare. (The cultivated ones are a different species of Flammulina too). 

We’re really lucky to have such a vibrant community of small, local mushroom growers and related makers. Feel free to tag your favorite you like or one I should know about in the comments. 

#enokimushroom #mushroomgrowers #flammulinavelutipes #blanche #allthemushroomtags #wintermushrooms
Celebrated my birthday last night with a few stiff Celebrated my birthday last night with a few stiff spruce’n’sodas. The spruce tip liquor I collaborated on with @ida_graves_distillery drinks like a mildly piney gin. Dangerously easy to drink. #sprucetips #craftliquor #drinkatree #itsmybirthdaybitches #im25again
Social media can be a wall-to-wall, endless string Social media can be a wall-to-wall, endless string of triumphs. We all know reality isn’t like that, so with the snow melting here, I thought I’d share a funny maple season fail with you (at the time it was not funny).

I was making maple soda out of sap, sweetfern and syrup that I like. I’d kept the glass bottle of soda in the fridge for a couple weeks, waiting for a good time to get to it. I’d started the mother batch with a pinch of commercial champagne yeast, which is vigorous stuff. 

One night I got up and poured myself a glass of water, and sleepily forgot to close the fridge all the way, which increased the temp. A few hours later I woke up to what sounded like a grenade going off. 

The bottle exploded and the inside of the fridge, all its contents, and the floor were covered with sticky maple juice, and I spent the next two hours mopping and picking out shards of glass that had embedded themselves like shrapnel in the walls of the fridge. 

Now, I use plastic restaurant cambros to make carbonated drinks. 💫

#fermentationfails #fail #soda #fermentation #explosions #dontrythisathome
My chief editorial assistant about to do backflips My chief editorial assistant about to do backflips for smoked goat kidneys. 

If you would have asked me a few years ago if I would see myself writing recipes (and filming videos) on making dog treats I would have laughed. 

But, working with @shepherdsongfarm, trying to figure out creative, economical methods for butchery and whole carcass utilization for lamb and goat has pushed my creativity into new places. Grateful for that. 💫

If you get down on kidneys, I have a good version for humans on my site too. A good piece of charcuterie to know. 

Hand model @pgerasimo 

#grassfed #goat #eatmoregoat #kidneys #offal #dogtreats #rescuepitbull #editorialassistant
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