The Best Type Of Mushroom For Hearty Mushroom Steak

Contrary to what some meat eaters believe, vegans love steaks too, just not the variety that come from an animal. Though there are several vegan steak options on the market these days that aim to look and taste much like the real thing, sometimes there's nothing better than a simple mushroom to simulate the texture and flavor of beef. Chowhound spoke with Rich Landau — chef/owner of Philadelphia's renowned vegetable restaurant, Vedge, and author of several cookbooks, including Vedge and The Vedge Bar Book — to find out his take on the best type of mushroom for a meaty mushroom steak. "Portobellos are the king of mushroom steaks," he told us exclusively. "This is a mushroom steak that you will actually need a steak knife for."

For those who don't know, portobello mushrooms are actually just full-grown cremini mushrooms. Cremini mushrooms (also sometimes referred to as baby bellas) are those mushrooms that are a little bigger and firmer than button mushrooms. When they are left to grow into portobellos, they develop a wonderful, meaty texture and deep flavor that makes them perfect for swapping in for meat. Though they don't give you the iron that a beef steak will, they have virtually zero saturated fat, contain gut-friendly prebiotics, and also have compounds like polyphenols and carotenoids, which may help to fight cancer.

Rich Landau says that the secret to making the best portobello steak possible is to avoid salting them too early. He recommends giving your portobellos a brush of oil and a sprinkle of black pepper and dry seasonings before pan-searing or grilling them over an open flame. "Towards the end of the cooking, you can sprinkle them with salt or drizzle on some tamari. Tamari plays double-duty by adding salt and umami as well," he says. He emphasizes the importance of allowing the mushrooms to hold onto their water as long as possible for best juiciness, explaining, "If they drop the water early and they continue to cook, they will become leathery and tough."

If you can't get your hands on portobellos, look for maitakes, says Landau. He recommends these lesser-known fungi as another option for something a little fancier and unique. "While not as meaty as portobellos, they have a nice, thick stem that definitely gives them that steaky feel," he says. "But they also have feathery ends that get crispy when seared in a cast iron pan or on the grill. So you have great contrast of textures from the same mushroom." As with portobellos, Landau recommends holding off on salting maitakes until the end so that they retain their juices.