Binchotan-Charred Eryngii with Smoked Shiro Miso Glaze

Introduction

A quiet celebration of smoke, charcoal, and the forest floor. In this shojin barbecue meditation, thick-cut eryngii mushrooms are scored with precise knife work, kissed by radiant binchotan embers, and lacquered in a glossy reduction of aged tamari and sweet shiro miso.

Ingredients

• 4 large thick-stemmed king oyster mushrooms (eryngii)
• 3 tablespoons aged shiro miso (sweet white miso)
• 2 tablespoons aged tamari
• 2 tablespoons sweet mirin
• 1 tablespoon Junmai sake
• 1/4 cup concentrated kombu and dried shiitake dashi
• 1 teaspoon toasted cold-pressed sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground green sansho pepper
• 4 fresh kinome leaves (prickly ash)
• 1 teaspoon toasted white sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Prepare binchotan charcoal in a konro grill until the coals burn with steady, ash-coated white radiance and even heat.
2. In a small copper pan over low heat, whisk together the shiro miso, aged tamari, mirin, sake, and concentrated dashi until smoothly incorporated and reduced to a glossy, brushable tare.
3. Trim the bases of the king oyster mushrooms and slice them lengthwise into 1.5-centimeter thick cutlets.
4. Using the tip of a sharp knife, delicately score a fine diamond crosshatch pattern across both sides of each mushroom slab to invite the smoke and glaze.
5. Thread two soaked bamboo skewers through each mushroom cutlet to keep them flat and stable over the heat.
6. Lightly brush the mushrooms with toasted sesame oil and place them above the white coals, grilling for 3 to 4 minutes per side until the edges blister and inner juices begin to weep.
7. Generously brush both sides with the miso tare and return to the embers for another 1 to 2 minutes, turning frequently until the glaze caramelizes into a savory, fragrant lacquer.
8. Transfer immediately to a coarse yakishime ceramic plate, finishing with a light dust of ground sansho pepper, toasted sesame seeds, and bruised kinome leaves.

Lift each skewer while the gentle perfume of white charcoal still dances in the air. Savor the tender, meaty resistance of the mushroom set against the deep umami of fermented grain and the quiet prickle of wild sansho pepper.

Hiroshi