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Large Flower Shiitake Stuffed with Prawns

Whole flower shiitake · Prawn filling · Light glaze

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Four large flower shiitake caps filled with cooked chopped prawns, a light glaze and spring onion greens.

Fill whole, thick flower shiitake caps with coarsely chopped prawns, steam, then finish with a light soy and oyster sauce glaze. Use four dried caps and 250 g prepared raw prawns, without pork. The Xianyitang 200 g label is the pack size, not the amount of dried mushrooms used here. Caps are approximately 8–10 cm across when dried, with natural variation. The whole stuffed caps make a distinctive dinner-party starter or a dish for a festive family meal. Start rehydrating them in the fridge the night before.

Serves4 mushrooms; side dish for 2–4
SoakingAbout 8–12 hours chilled
CookingAbout 30–40 minutes
Total time (including soaking)About 9–13½ hours, including soaking

Times are estimates. Allow about 25 minutes for preparation and cooling; cooking includes pre-steaming the caps, steaming the filling and making the glaze. Soak the night before. Large, thick caps may need longer; judge by a soft centre and measured filling temperature. Your plate must fit inside the steamer; use smaller plates and steam in batches if needed, allowing extra time.

Large flower shiitake soaking in water, with dry caps, raw peeled prawns, ginger, spring onions and seasonings alongside.

Recipe illustrations; measure ingredients using the written quantities.

Ingredients

  • Xianyitang large dried flower shiitake mushrooms, from a 200 g pack; not the whole pack 4 caps
  • Raw peeled, tail-off, deveined prawns, prepared weight; thaw frozen prawns completely first 250 g
  • Spring onions: about 10 g white parts for the filling and 10 g green parts to finish 20 g
  • Fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced 5 g
  • Light soy sauce: 10 ml for the filling and 5 ml for the glaze 15 ml, divided
  • Sesame oil, for the filling 5 ml
  • Cornflour: 5 g for the filling, 2 g for dusting the caps and 3 g for the glaze 10 g, divided
  • Cold drinking water, for the filling 5 ml
  • Oyster sauce, for the glaze 10 g
  • Drinking water, for the glaze 100 ml
  • Cold drinking water, to mix with the 3 g cornflour for the glaze 10 ml
  • Cold drinking water for soaking; discard it in this recipe. Also have separate water for the steamer About 1 litre; add enough for your bowl

Rehydrating large flower shiitake

  1. Remove any debris, rinse four dried mushrooms briefly and discard the rinse water. Put them in a roomy bowl with about 1 litre of cold drinking water, enough to submerge them completely. Hold them down gently with a clean small plate, cover and refrigerate at 5°C or below for about 8–12 hours, ideally overnight. Top up with cold water if absorbed or if caps emerge. Press the thickest centre of each cap: it must feel soft with no hard core. Continue soaking in the fridge if needed; elapsed time alone does not prove they are ready.
  2. Allow room for expansion. Discard all soaking liquid in this version; do not use it in the filling or glaze. Soaking alone does not make the mushrooms ready to eat.

Method

Rinse and rehydrate in the fridge

Remove any debris, rinse four dried mushrooms briefly and discard the rinse water. Put them in a roomy bowl with about 1 litre of cold drinking water, enough to submerge them completely. Hold them down gently with a clean small plate, cover and refrigerate at 5°C or below for about 8–12 hours, ideally overnight. Top up with cold water if absorbed or if caps emerge. Press the thickest centre of each cap: it must feel soft with no hard core. Continue soaking in the fridge if needed; elapsed time alone does not prove they are ready.

Trim and pre-steam the caps

Discard the soaking liquid, rinse the caps again and gently press out excess water without twisting them. Trim off tough stems. Put the caps gill-side up on a shallow heatproof plate. Cover and steam over already boiling water at medium-high heat for about 15–20 minutes, until tender and readily pierced with a chopstick. Keep steaming if still noticeably tough. Remove with heat protection, pour off excess plate liquid and let the caps cool enough to handle safely. Prepare the filling while they steam.

Prepare and mix the prawn filling

If the prawns are frozen, thaw completely in the fridge following the pack. Remove shells, tails and veins, pat dry and weigh 250 g of prepared prawns. Chop into a coarse mince. Mix with 10 g spring onion whites, 5 g ginger, 10 ml light soy sauce, 5 ml sesame oil and 5 g cornflour, adding 5 ml cold water until cohesive. Do not add pork or use pre-cooked prawns. Cover and refrigerate until the caps are cool enough to fill.

Fill the mushroom caps

Pat the gill sides dry and share 2 g cornflour in a thin dusting over the four caps. Divide the prawn filling into four portions and press about a quarter into each cap, keeping the layer roughly 1–1.5 cm thick. If a smaller cap cannot hold its portion, steam the extra filling separately in a small heatproof dish rather than making a tall mound. Arrange filling-side up in one layer, without overlap. Use plates that fit your steamer and cook in batches if necessary. The illustration shows raw chopped prawn filling being added to a cap.

Raw chopped prawn filling being pressed into a large shiitake cap, gill-side up, before final steaming.

Steam until the filling is thoroughly cooked

Check there is enough water in the pot and bring it back to the boil before adding the filled caps. Cover and steam for about 12–15 minutes, timing from the return of steady steam. This is a guide only. Use a clean probe in the thickest prawn filling centre to confirm 75°C for 30 seconds. If needed, steam in further 2–3 minute intervals and recheck; thick filling, cold ingredients or tiered steaming may take longer. The prawn filling should be firm and opaque, with no raw translucent centre. The mushrooms must also be thoroughly cooked. The lid is moved aside in the illustration only; keep it on while steaming. Beware escaping steam and do not let the pot boil dry.

Four prawn-stuffed large shiitake caps steaming on a heatproof plate, with the lid moved aside to show the method.

Make the light glaze and serve

Bring 100 ml drinking water, 10 g oyster sauce and the remaining 5 ml soy sauce to the boil in a small pan. Mix the remaining 3 g cornflour with 10 ml cold water, stir again just before pouring, then add gradually while stirring. Simmer for about 1–2 minutes until it lightly coats a spoon, without becoming gelatinous. Transfer cooked mushrooms with clean utensils, spoon over a little glaze and finish with about 10 g spring onion greens. Serve hot with rice. Cut large mushrooms into portions for sharing if preferred.

Cooking tips

  • These instructions are for large caps; soaking and steaming times for small shiitake do not transfer directly. Rehydrate fully before pre-steaming; pre-steaming does not replace soaking.
  • Weigh prawns after removing shells, tails and veins. Use raw prawns and thaw frozen ones completely in the fridge first. This recipe does not include pork.
  • This version uses fresh water for the glaze and discards soaking water. Discard mushrooms that develop an abnormal sour smell, sliminess or other spoilage signs. Do not taste them to check or try to rescue them by cooking.
  • Images illustrate the dish and method. Measure ingredients using the written quantities, and judge doneness by filling temperature and mushroom tenderness.

Allergens

Prawns contain crustaceans. Light soy sauce usually contains soya and wheat (gluten); sesame oil contains sesame; oyster sauce contains molluscs and some brands also contain soya or wheat. The Xianyitang pack states that it is packed in a facility also handling peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and soya. Always check the actual labels.

Storage and reheating

Keep rehydrated mushrooms and raw filling refrigerated at 5°C or below and aim to cook that day. Follow raw prawn pack instructions for use-by dates and use after thawing. Separate raw and cooked utensils, and wash hands and tools after handling raw prawns. Divide cooked leftovers into shallow containers, cool promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 48 hours or freeze. Reheat only once until steaming hot throughout.

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Shop the Xianyitang ingredients for this recipe

Actual product photograph of Xianyitang large dried flower shiitake mushrooms, 200 g.
Actual product packaging reference · Large flower shiitake 200 g