Growing Oyster Mushrooms

The world is your oyster…mushroom.

A few months ago, I was able to take part in a mushroom growing workshop organized by my school’s homegrown garden. I took home a bag in which oyster mushrooms were supposed to grow from, and for weeks, I observed the mushrooms gradually grow out from it. I was really amused. I love eating mushrooms (shiitake, enoki, portabello, crimini etc…you name it!), but I’ve never really given much thought about mushroom cultivation.

Recently I was on the search for mushroom growing kits and I managed to find one at Loblaws. The mushroom kit yielded a lot more oyster mushrooms than the one I got from school. It only took me about 4 days before the mushrooms were ready for harvest!

I thought it’d be interesting to pair the homegrown mushrooms with something homemade, so I did! I made an open-faced sandwich with homemade herbed focaccia bread (I used Chef John’s recipe from Food Wishes) topped with sautéed oyster mushrooms.

For the oyster mushrooms, I sautéed the mushrooms with garlic, olive oil, and butter. I seasoned them with salt and freshly ground black pepper, added some romano cheese, splashed in some balsamic vinegar, and finished with some chopped fresh parsley. I can’t remember the amounts I used (hence no recipe), but it was pretty good!

The oyster mushrooms turned out quite flavorful; they really absorb the flavours you cook them with. Although next time I probably wouldn’t make an open-faced sandwich as it was quite messy to eat (despite how neat it looks in the photo) lol.