Foil-baked mushroom しめじのフォイル焼き

Foil-baked mushrooms しめじのフォイル焼き (Mark's book p28)

I came across a package of fresh "shimeji" mushrooms at our Japanese grocery store and decided to make this dish. I almost cooked this in an oven rather than directly on the stove top as instructed but I restrained myself and followed the recipe and it worked well. This is a very easy and excellent way to prepare "shimeji" mushrooms しめじ茸. I have tasted "enoki" mushrooms えのき茸 made in a similar manner (less cooking time required) at a "Robatayaki" 炉端焼き restaurant in San Francisco a long time ago.

To reiterate the recipe from Mark's book p28, trim the root end of the shimeji mushrooms (The entire bunch is connected at the root end), salt and put it in aluminum foil shaped into a box (I used double layers since the recipe calls for it to be put it directly on a low flame). I added two small slivers of lemon zest (using a peeler), thin pats of unsalted butter (total of 1 tbs), sealed the top by double folding. I placed it on a direct low flame and let it cook for 15 minutes. I added a splash of soy sauce just before serving.

I ended up transferring the mushroom to a small bowl to make two individual servings. This is a very nice dish, although I may reduce  the amount of butter next time. A good amount of juice came out of the mushroom with butter and lemon flavor mixed in with soy sauce really heighten the earthy, meaty goodness of the mushroom.