Enoki Beef Rolls

If you’re craving for an easy weeknight meal or appetizer, these Enoki Beef Rolls are the perfect answer! It’s tender beef stuffed with chewy mushrooms -all drenched with velvety eggs and an umami-bombed sauce.

Watch the Enoki Beef Rolls Recipe Video Below!

This dish is incredibly simple and comes together in just under an hour! It’s one of my go-to meals to prepare for the family since they all adore this dish and it disappears within minutes.

Enoki mushrooms are my absolute favorite types of mushrooms since they absorb practically anything they’re simmered into. If you love noodles, this one’s for you. Enoki mushrooms are one of the closest mushrooms you can get to replicating that similar stringy, chewy texture of noodles.

To make these, you’ll need to get a hold of very thinly-sliced meat. Think the type of meat you’d get at your favorite local hotpot place or a Korean barbecue. They’re thin, easy to manage, and a breeze to cook with.

These pieces of meat will essentially be the “wrapper” to encase the bunches of mushroom we’ll be simmering it in.

The sauce is a blend of dashi, sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar -somewhat similar to a Teriyaki-type style sauce.

To finish, we drench the dish with lightly scrambled eggs and cook it just to the point of being set, but still somewhat runny and velvety.

It’s very similar to another Japanese dish called Gyudon, which a similar concept by way of simmering beef and topping it off with eggs, but this version adds an extra step with the wrapping the beef around chewy mushrooms.

Give these a try in your next weeknight meal rotation and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Ingredients (and substitutions!)

Thinly-sliced beef: Most Asian grocers should carry this, either pre-sliced and frozen in packs. Alternatively, you can also request to have them freshly sliced at the butcher. Premium cuts to go for include rib eye or striploin since they contain a great amount of fat marbling.

Enoki mushrooms: These are a Japanese variety of mushroom, typically sold in most Asian groceries. They’re soft, stringy, and chewy -making them the perfect vehicle to soak up all that savory goodness from the sauce.

• Substitutions: Seafood mushrooms are similar, though they’re slightly thicker and larger compared to enoki.

Egg: The egg not only makes this dish more filling, but it also helps to bind everything together in the pan.

Dashi: This is a classic Japanese stock commonly made with kombu (kelp seaweed) and katsuoboshi (dried bonito flakes). You’re free to make your own from scratch, but for conveniency, I also like using the Hondashi instant granules.

• Substitutions: While dashi adds a distinct umami taste to sauces, you can replace this with most stocks (e.g., chicken, beef, vegetable) or plain water.

Sake: Japanese sake adds a mellow umami and somewhat sweet flavor to cooking. It can tenderize meats and eliminate unpleasant odors. You can buy cooking sake usually in the “sauces” area of your Asian grocery, or if you prefer, to buy actual drinking sake from a liquor store -both options are fine.

• Substitutions: Sake can be replaced with any standard cooking wine, such as dry white wine or even Chinese Shaoxing wine. Alternatively, you may choose to omit the sake without sacrificing the taste of the dish too much.

Mirin: This is a sweet rice wine, similar to sake, but sweeter and less alcoholic. You can find this at the same place where sake and other Asian sauces should be found.

• Substitutions: Similar to sake, this can also be omitted without drastically altering the taste of the recipe. However, if omitting, I’d suggest adding 1/2 tsp of sugar instead to account for the loss of sweetness.

Soy sauce: A staple in almost all Asian cuisines, soy sauce provides the necessary base for our sauce to give that needed savoriness and saltiness to complement the beef.

Sugar: Sugar helps to further balance out the savory notes of the dish.

• Substitutions: White or brown sugar may work. You can also use honey if you prefer.

Instructions

Prepare the enoki mushrooms by cutting off the bottom root section. Gently rinse with cold water to remove any excess dirt, then section the mushrooms into 15 smaller bunches to be wrapped.

Wrap each bunch with a thin slice of beef to hold them together. Set aside.

Combine all the ingredients for the sauce until smooth, and set aside for later cooking.

In a pan, heat 2 tsp of oil over medium heat. Sauté the onions until softened, about 4-5 minutes.

Lay the enoki beef rolls over the onions. Pour the prepared sauce over the rolls and simmer with a lid for about 5 minutes until the mushrooms have softened.

Pour the scrambled egg on top of the rolls, place the lid on again, and cook for an additional 1 minute, or until the eggs are slightly set.

Let cool. Top with the chopped scallions. Enjoy with a side of rice and/or vegetables.

Cooking Tips

Partially-frozen beef is your friend: A quick tip I found to keep the rolls from unravelling and breaking apart is by wrapping your mushrooms with partially frozen beef -that is, when the slices aren’t completely at room temperature yet, but still soft and pliable enough to roll. This keeps the rolls stable without the meat falling apart!

Add vegetables and other mix-ins if you’d like: Apart from mushrooms and onion, feel free to throw in some thinly-sliced carrots, cabbage, or even white radish to add some fibre and make the dish more filling.

Control the consistency of your sauce: The longer you cook the sauce, the more concentrated and drier the overall dish is (this is actually very tasty, as the sauce begins to caramelize and browns the beef!). You can also keep the sauce soupy (great to pour over rice) by adding a touch more dashi or removing it from the heat early.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

How do I store leftovers?

Leftover enoki beef rolls can be refrigerated for up to 4 days in an airtight container.

To reheat, simply place the rolls in a microwave or over stovetop and heat until warm. You may make extra sauce on the side to serve alongside the reheated rolls as they tend to dry out after about a day in the fridge.

Craving for more easy dinner recipes? You might love these:

• Yaki Udon
• Sizzling Beef Pepper Rice
• Sticky 5-Spice Chicken
• Chicken Adobo