Maple Chili Foraged Bolete Bao
It’s summer, the season of the foraged bolete! Gather your large and in charge porcinis or other boletes, slice them up and let’s get cooking. This recipe fills fluffy bao with quick pickled vegetables and crispy boletes in a sticky, garlicky, spicy maple sauce. They are filling and addictive, perfect for either snacking or meals.
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Boletes and Porcini
Boletes are a genus of mushrooms that is made up with over a hundred species of mushroom. This group was originally named by the father of modern taxonomy himself, Carl Linnaeus. Boletes have stems, but unlike most stemmed mushrooms which have gills under the cap, boletes have tightly packed pores. Boletes are typically large and fleshy, and different species can be found around the world. Some boletes are toxic, but many are edible. Of those ones that are edible, there are some that are truly delicious and others that are bitter and unpleasant. The most well-known and popular bolete is the porcini. Porcini are the name for Boletus edulis, also called Penny Bun, Cep, and King Bolete. It is a prized edible mushroom that is very difficult to domesticate, so they are generally foraged from the wild. This recipe was written with porcini in mind, but there are many other boletes that would work well here such as Boletus variipes, which is actually the mushroom I used to make these bao. Other boletes that are considered to have choice edibility include: Boletus regineus (the Queen bolete), Boletus separans (Lilac bolete), and Imleria badia (the Bay bolete).
Disclaimer- use caution when foraging wild edibles, and always be certain of your identification. While I assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided on this site, I can’t be responsible for the accuracy of your information. Consult multiple websites, books and local experts, and when it doubt, do without.
While it is best to positively identify a mushroom, if you live in North America and you’ve found a foraged bolete you don’t actually have to if you want to determine if they are safe to eat. There is actually a little trick. These three rules will eliminate all toxic North America boletes- they will also remove some edible ones, but it’s a good rule for newer foragers to follow.
So here they are. First make sure that you have correctly identified the mushroom as being a foraged bolete (center stalk, pores not gills). Secondly, DO NOT eat boletes that:
- Have orange or red pores on the undersides of their caps.
- Stain blue when cut or bruised. A good way to check for this is to slice a mushroom in half and watch about 30 seconds for blue staining.
- Taste Bitter. Put a little bit on your tongue (don’t swallow) and wait to see if there is a bitter flavor before spitting it out. This rule is more about making sure you actually want to eat a mushroom rather than toxicity, but it’s still good to follow.
For identifying boletes, one of my favorite resources to start with is the Bolete Filter. It is a free tool where you can enter characteristics of the mushroom you’ve found (such as the cap color, the habitat, the region, and more) and it will give you a list of possible candidates. From there you can do further research on each of the possible candidates to determine what mushroom you have. This tool is made for North America, so please do not try to use if you have been foraging elsewhere.
Looking for Mushroom Recipes? Try one of these!
I choose the following recipes because I think they could all work well with boletes and porcini!
- Mushroom Spinach Star Vegan Dumplings
- Pickled Maitake Mushrooms (Canning Recipe)
- Kale and Mushroom Filled Sweet Potato Tamales
- Savory Mushroom Vegan Hot Water Crust Pie
- Maitake Mushroom Vegan French Dip Sandwich
- Crispy Black Pearl Oyster Mushroom Croutons
- Vegan Barley Risotto with Shiitake Mushrooms
- Arugula Topped Mushroom Flatbreads
- Vegan Posole with Tempeh and Mushrooms
- Vegan Brown Rice Congee with Jackfruit and Mushrooms
- Eggplant, Chestnut, and Mushroom Vegan Holiday Loaf
How to Make Foraged Bolete Bao
These foraged bolete bao take a bit of work and time, mostly because we are making our own bao buns. If you like, you can often find premade bao, typically in frozen form, which will speed things up a bit, but I personally enjoy the process of making them myself.
To make your bao, start by activating your yeast in plant-based milk warmed with some boiling water and sugar. Once the yeast is bubbly, you can make the dough in a stand mixer (you can do it by hand too, but it will require a little more elbow grease). Once the dough is formed and kneaded, cover with a warm cloth and let it sit in a warm environment until the dough rises to about twice the volume.
After that first rise punch down the dough and divide it into 16 equal pieces (so divide the dough into half, each half into half, each of those halves into halves, and divide those halves into halves). Use a rolling pin to roll each of those pieces of dough into circles about 3 1/2 inches across, and fold in half like a half-moon, taco shell, or capital D. To avoid sticking to your steamer, each of these bao gets placed on a small square of parchment paper or a clean coffee filter, where it will stay throughout the second rise and the cooking process.
Speaking of the second rise, that comes next. Cover the bao with your clean dish cloth, and let sit for 30 minutes. While that is going on, prepare your steamer. The best option here is a bamboo steamer- it has multiple levels and will help you make more bao quickly. I don’t currently have a bamboo steamer, so I actually used an unfolded stainless steel vegetable steamer and worked in batches. You can also make a steamer yourself, by boiling water in a large skillet with a lid and propping a heat-resistant plate on top of a jar lid so your plate doesn’t touch the water. Each of your bao needs to steam for eight minutes. Make sure you spread them out in the steamer so they have room to grow. Remove your cooked, fluffy bao from the steamer, and spray a little water on the bottom so the buns don’t stick. Remove the coffee filter or parchment paper, and your bao are done!
The other parts of the bao are the mushrooms and the pickled veg. Both are very simple. For the vegetables, cut the carrots, scallions, and bell peppers into slices. Heat the elements of the brine in a small saucepan so the salt and sugar dissolves. Pack the vegetables in a jar, pour the brine over the vegetables, and voila. You’ve made your quick pickle.
The mushrooms are perhaps even easier. Make the sauce by combining all of the ingredients for the mushrooms aside from the mushrooms themselves in a jar. Take your mushrooms, sliced and bite-sized, and throw them in a skillet with some oil and cook until crispy. Add the sauce to the hot pan, and cook, stirring until the mushrooms are coated and sticky.
And now it’s time to eat! Open a bao bun and add some of your pickled vegetables and foraged bolete mixture. Top with chopped peanuts and cilantro. Eat, and eat another. And another. And… probably another…
Maple Chili Foraged Bolete Bao
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup plant-based milk
- 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp. instant yeast
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 4 cups fresh sliced boletes (porcini or similar)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. chili flakes
- ½ tsp. apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp. Chinese five spice
- 1 carrot
- 2 scallions
- ½ bell pepper
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. chili flakes
- Chopped peanuts, for serving
- Chopped cilantro, for serving
Instructions
- Start by working on your bao buns. Boil a little water, and once hot pour ¼ cup into the bowl of your mixer. Add your plant-based milk to the water, and mix so that the whole thing is warm but not hot. Add the sugar and yeast, stir, and let sit for about 10 minutes until the yeast is frothy.
- After 10 minutes, add the olive oil and give a quick whisk. Add the remaining ingredients- the flour, baking powder, and salt. Turn on the mixer, slowly at first, until a dough has formed. Use a dough hook and use your mixer to knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until the dough is soft, elastic, but not sticky. Lightly oil a bowl, form the dough into a ball, and cover with a clean, damp, dish cloth. Let sit in a warm place for about 90 minutes until it has doubled in size.
- While the dough rises, start on the quick pickle. Cut the carrots and peppers into the size of matchsticks. Cut the scallions into a similar length. Place them in a jar or heat resistant bowl. Add the vinegar, sugar, salt, and chili flakes into a saucepan with ¼ cup of water. Heat to a simmer, stirring, until the salt and sugar is dissolved. Pour the brine over the vegetables, and transfer to the fridge until needed.
- Return to the bao dough. Punch down the risen dough, and divide it into 16 equal pieces. Working one at a time, roll a piece of dough into a ball and use a rolling pin to flatten it into a circle, about 3-4 inches across. Gently fold the dough over into a half-moon, and place on a prepared parchment paper square or coffee filter. Repeat with the remaining dough, and cover again with the damp towel. Let sit to rise for 30 minutes.
- Set up a steamer, and transfer the risen bao on their coffee filters or parchment paper to the steamer working in batches. Leave at least an inch between the buns as they will grow. Let steam, covered, for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and spray a little water on the coffee filters to prevent sticking. Once cool enough to handle, remove the bao from the coffee filters and set aside. Repeat with all the dough.
- Combine all of the ingredients aside from the boletes in a jar along with two tablespoons of water and mix. Set aside. Heat some oil in a large skillet, and add the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms, stirring and flipping occasionally, until they are crispy. Add the remaining ingredients to the hot pan, stirring so the water evaporates and sauce coats all the mushrooms in a sticky glaze. Remove from the heat.
- Fill the bao with some of the pickled vegetables, glazed mushrooms, chopped peanuts, and cilantro. Enjoy
Notes
Also Required: 16 coffee filters or parchment squares A steamer
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