Pulled king trumpet sandwich.

The dense, aligned fibres in a king trumpet stem mean it shreds rather than crumbles. Pull it apart with two forks and you get strands with genuine length, which is the structural thing that makes a pulled sandwich work.

The rest is technique: brown the strands properly before the sauce goes anywhere near them, or you get a sweet, wet pile.

What you need

Mushrooms

• 1 lb king trumpet mushrooms
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• Salt, black pepper

Glaze

• ½ cup barbecue sauce
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire or soy
• 2 tbsp water

To build

• 4 brioche or potato buns
• Quick slaw (cabbage, mayo, vinegar, sugar, salt)
• Sliced pickles
• Sliced red onion

Method

1. Shred the mushrooms along the grain with two forks or your fingers, pulling from the base of the stem toward the cap. You want long strands, not chunks.
2. Dry-sear in two batches in a hot pan, 3 minutes untouched each time, until the strands take colour. Set aside between batches.
3. Add the oil and spices to the pan, return all the mushrooms, and cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until the edges are properly dark.
4. Spread it flat and leave it for 3 minutes to build a crisp base layer, then fold that up through the rest.
5. Add the glaze and cook 3–4 minutes until it has reduced and clings rather than pools. Taste and add vinegar if it needs cutting.
6. Build the sandwich: bun, mushrooms, slaw, pickles, onion. Press the lid down and eat it immediately.

The sauce goes in last

Barbecue sauce is sugary and wet — both are enemies of browning. Get all your colour first, then glaze for four minutes at the end. This one ordering decision is the difference between the sandwich working and not.

Pink oyster gives the same effect with a chewier, more ham-like strand — see the carnitas recipe, which uses the same shredding technique in a different direction.

Slaw matters more than you think

A glazed mushroom sandwich is sweet, soft and savoury all at once, and it needs acid and crunch or it reads as one note. Make the slaw sharper than you would normally — heavy on the vinegar, light on the sugar.

Scaling it up

This is the best recipe on the site for feeding a crowd: it holds warm for half an hour without degrading, doubles cleanly, and costs very little per portion. For a party, brown the mushrooms in advance and glaze just before serving.

Common questions