Best for: The foil pack everyone opens first.
At shaokao stalls, enoki mushrooms grill in little foil pans under a blanket of garlic, and the mushrooms steam in their own juices and the garlic oil into something silky and deeply savory. A foil pack on the home grill does the same job — written here with sesame oil instead of the stalls’ usual butter, so it is vegan as it stands.
Grill: Direct medium heat; 400°F, covered. Equipment: Grill, heavy-duty foil, tongs.
Ingredients
12 minutes. Total: 22 minutes.
- 14 oz enoki mushrooms, roots trimmed, rinsed and separated into 4 bundles
- 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon Chinese chile flakes (or crushed red pepper flakes)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
Directions
Heat the grill to 400°F. Lay out 4 large sheets of heavy-duty foil, shiny side up.
Set a bundle of enoki in the center of each sheet. Stir the garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, neutral oil, chile flakes, and sugar into a sauce and spoon it evenly over the mushrooms.
Fold each sheet into a sealed pack with a little headspace for steam, crimping the edges tight.
Set the packs directly on the grate, close the lid, and grill for 10–12 minutes, until the packs puff with steam and the mushrooms are silky and tender.
Open the packs carefully — the steam is fierce — and check that the garlic smells sweet, not raw.
Scatter with the scallions and serve in the foil, with the juices spooned over.
Grilling tip: Trim the enoki root block just enough to separate the bundle — leave the stems long; short-cut enoki disappear into the pack.
