These tasty crispy enoki mushrooms are going to become one of your favorite ways to enjoy mushrooms! Lightly breaded and fried up simply and easily in a pan, they make a great garnish, appetizer, side dish, or meal! They're not only fun to eat, they're also fun to look at!
Remove enoki mushrooms from packaging and cut off about 1-inch off the bottom connected to the dirt. Discard the dirt section.
Brush off any bits of dirt with a damp paper towel, brush, or your fingertips. Do not wash the mushrooms in water.
Carefully separate the enoki mushrooms into small bunches and set them aside. If possible, leave the small bunches attached on the bottom, but don't worry if they separate.
Coating the Mushrooms:
In a dish or bowl, combine the tapioca starch, salt, onion powder, white pepper, garlic powder, and paprika and whisk together.
Add a few bunches of enoki mushrooms to the tapioca starch mixture and gently toss to fully coat. Shake off the excess and set mushrooms aside on a plate or pan and continue with the remaining mushrooms.
Cooking the Mushrooms:
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add approximate 2 tablespoons of oil and swirl to coat.
Add the enoki mushroom bunches, a few at a time, to the skillet, sliding them around in the oil. Do not overcrowd. If the enoki mushrooms are loose and separated, bunch some together into a small bundle and lay them in the pan. They will stick together as they cook.
Fry the mushrooms for approximately 2 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Flip them over. Add more oil to the pan, if necessary.
Once mushrooms are golden brown on both sides, transfer them to a rack over paper towels or in a pan. Sprinkle coarse salt over the mushrooms while they are still hot, if desired. Continue frying the remaining mushroom bundles, adding oil to the pan as you go.
Transfer the mushrooms to a dish and garnish with chopped green onions, sliced chili peppers, and sesame seeds, if desired. Eat them as they are, wrapped in lettuce leaves, or dip them in a Thai chili sauce.
Notes
Most packages of enoki mushrooms are 200 grams, but they can also vary. The ingredient measurements for the coating is meant to be enough to coat 200 grams of enoki mushrooms.
Do not wash the enoki mushrooms in water. Clean off any bits of dirt with a damp paper towel, brush, or your fingertips. They will absorb the water if rinsed and will not crisp up when fried.
The mushrooms will absorb the oil in the pan as they cook, so be sure to add fresh oil to the pan as necessary between batches. If there is not enough oil, the coating on the mushrooms will not crisp.
You can flatten the mushrooms slightly in the pan so that they cook more evenly and quickly.
Use tongs or chopsticks to lightly handle the mushrooms in the pan because they will become a bit sticky as they fry.
Cornstarch can be substituted for tapioca starch.
Add chili powder to the tapioca starch mixture to add spice, or adjust the seasonings to taste.
If the mushrooms have separated into individual strands, simply bunch several of them up into a bundle and lay them into the pan to fry. As they cook, they will stick together.
You can toss all the enoki mushrooms loosely with the tapioca starch mixture and lay them all at once in the skillet like a nest, flattening them to cook evenly and flipping as one pancake. Cut them into wedges to serve.
They will not be as crisp as cooking the mushrooms in small bundles because the pancake will be thicker and there will not be as much surface area being fried.
If you notice the mushrooms browning too quickly or beginning to burn, reduce the heat slightly.