Step 1

Soak your dried mushrooms in boiling hot water fo 10-15 minutes. You can also soak these overnight. Don’t discard the liquid from the mushrooms! This can be used for the gravy.

Step 2

Once the mushrooms are rehydrated, squeeze out excess liquid. Chop these mushrooms until fine/minced. If using fresh shiitake mushrooms, simply minced these as well.

Step 3

Mix together the mushrooms in a large bowl.

Step 4

If you plan to freeze your tofu for a 'meatier' texture, be sure not to press the tofu. The water inside the tofu will expand as it freezes and give the tofu a different texture.Thaw the tofu for a few hours at room temperate until all the ice has melted and then press the tofu to squeeze out all the liquid.

Step 5

Wrap the tofu in a cheesecloth, mash the tofu, and squeeze out any more excess liquid. If you don’t have a thin cheesecloth, you can also just press the tofu or mash it then squeeze out any excess liquid.

Step 6

Mix the crumbled tofu, mushrooms, chopped onion, garlic together and then season with the vegetarian oyster sauce and dark soy sauce (if using). Add in salt and pepper, to taste, along with the bread crumbs (1/4 cup or 30 g first), flour and corn starch. Mix everything well until the tofu-mushroom mixture comes together.

Step 7

Test out the mixture and then shape into a patty to see if it holds up well. If the mixture is a little wet and sticky, you can add 1-2 tbsp more of bread crumbs or flour. The bread crumbs/flour will help absorb some of the moisture.

Step 8

Afterwards, divide the mixture into 6-7 portions. Get a generous handful of the mixture, shape into a ball, and then flatten into a patty that’s around 3/4-inch (~2 cm) thick.

Step 9

To cook: Heat a medium or large non-stick pan over medium. Once hot, add some neutral oil or butter and spread over the pan. Leave to heat and once hot, place 3-4 patties (depending on the size of your pan). Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side of until nice and golden brown. Flip over and cook the remaining side.

Step 10

Repeat this for the rest of the patties.

Step 11

Meanwhile, make the gravy mixture by mixing together the vegetable broth or mushroom water in a large bowl and mix in together with the all purpose flour, pepper, soy sauce, and add some salt, to taste, if needed. Make sure the flour is dissolved.

Step 12

In the same pan used to cook the burger patties, melt some butter or add some oil. Once the oil/butter is hot and melted, add in the mushrooms and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Step 13

Mix the gravy mixture well (make sure the flour has fully dissolved) and then pour this mixture into the pan.

Step 14

Over medium heat, allow the gravy mixture to come to boil. Continue to mix until the gravy boils and starts to thicken. Taste the gravy and feel free to season with more salt and pepper, to taste, if needed.

Step 15

The gravy will continue to thicken as it cools. If you want a runnier gravy, you can add a bit more vegetable broth to adjust the consistency to your liking.

Step 16

Turn off the heat.

Step 17

Serve the burger patties with rice and the mushroom gravy. Feel free to top your rice and burger patties with some fried garlic, if desired. Enjoy!!

Step 18

You can pan-fry all the patties and freeze the cooked ones. To reheat, simply pan-fry them from frozen on a non-stick pan.