Pulled Mushroom Tacos

Step 1

Start by macerating the red onion for the garnish. Simply peel and finely slice it, add the slices to a bowl and cover them with the red wine vinegar. You can use a plate or smaller bowl to weigh them down and submerge them.

Step 2

For the pulled mushrooms, shred the king oyster mushrooms with a fork and set aside. Peel and finely dice the onion and add to a casserole dish along with some neutral oil (I used olive oil) and 1 tsp salt and cook for around 5 minutes until softened and translucent. Peel and finely chop the garlic and add to the pan. Cook for another minute until the garlic is fragrant, then add the remaining ingredients along with 250 ml water. If you have a bay leaf flying about, you can drop it in as well. Add the shredded mushrooms to the sauce and let them cook until all of the water has reduced and they just begin to stick to the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Step 3

While the mushrooms are cooking, make the coriander salsa. Deseed and roughly chop the jalapeño, peel the garlic, trim and roughly chop the spring onions and coriander, juice the limes. Then add all of the ingredients along with 3/4 tsp salt to a blender and process until smooth.

Step 4

When the mushrooms are almost ready, prepare the remaining garnish. Finely slice the avocado (drizzle the slices with a bit of lime juice to avoid them browning) and pick the coriander leaves. Cut the limes lengthways into quarters. Have a clean tea towel ready and heat up a small frying pan. Quickly toast each taco for around 20 - 30 seconds on each side, then transfer to the towel and cover. You’re not trying to colour them in the pan, you’re just warming them through so that the steam that is trapped inside the towel softens them.

Step 5

Time to build your tacos. If you want, you can fry the mushrooms in a bit of oil in a pan for a gnarly crust. Or serve them straight out of the casserole. Take a warm taco and top it with a generous spoon of the pulled mushrooms followed by a few slices of the onion, the avocado, a drizzle of the salsa and some coriander leaves. Squeeze over the lime juice and tuck in.