Paris greetings and summer steamed shiitake

I made the mushrooms in America a handful of times, and I'll be making them again now that I'm in Paris — you should, too

Bonjour! Bonjour!

I’m back home in Paris! Wilted — the heat, the heat, the heat — but looking forward to adventures. I’ve got some museum tickets tucked away; some plans for having fun with the kids, who’ll be here in a week; reservations for dinners out (if the heat breaks); dates for dinners in with friends; and my granny cart at the ready for market day. I’ll have plenty of Paris treats for you, but not today. I just got here and haven’t filled the fridge yet — I’m headed to the Maubert-Mutualité market this morning (as early as possible, before the temperatures climb). And while I’m there, I’m going to look for shiitake mushrooms, so that I can make Ham El-Waylly’s Steamed Shiitakes with Ginger-Garlic-Scallion Sauce from his debut cookbook, Hello, Home Cooking: Do-Able Dishes for Every Day: A Cookbook [Bookshop // B&N // Amazon]. I made it before I flew here. I ate it three different ways. Oops — make that four+ different ways. And now I miss it (scroll down for the recipe).

Photo: Laura Murray for Hello, Home Cooking

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Shiitakes x 4 1/2

I put some on a packet of noodles from instant soup — but I was stingy with the sauce.

Then, I made a feast. I had halibut cheeks in the freezer (thank you Star Fish Market), so I marinated them in the scallop mix from Everyday Dorie [Bookshop // B&N // Amazon], sautéed them, then brushed them with preserved lemon paste. I boiled the leftover marinade and used it as a sauce, then served the fish over orzo with mushrooms on the side. When I’d made the halibut cheeks like this before, Michael said, “I’d pay money for this.” They were even better with the mushrooms.

I also served the mushrooms as a side dish to grilled steak. And then, I had them with oatmeal! I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this before — maybe I didn’t because I know it sounds odd — but my favorite way to have oatmeal (which I have almost every day as a mid-morning pick-me-up because I don’t usually eat breakfast) is to cook the oats (I use old-fashioned oats, not steel-cut) with raisins in chicken broth and to eat them with a big spoonful of Fly by Jing chili crisp. Now my favoritest way is to top the bowl off with Ham’s shiitakes.

About the 1/2: I snipped the stems from the shiitakes with scissors, laid them out on a bamboo tray (I could have used a cake rack) and dried them in the sun for a few hours. They’re packed in a little storage container, at the ready to be dropped into miso soup.

Ham, Hello, Home Cooking and more good things

I’m betting that like me, you already know Ham El-Waylly and his wife, Sohla El-Waylly, from their videos on YouTube, for NYT Cooking, and from Sohla’s book, Start Here [Bookshop // B&N // Amazon ]. Guess what? He’s as charming in person as you’d expect. I met him a few weeks ago when I was walking through the NYC Union Square Greenmarket on my way to meet the kids. He was at the Kitchen Arts & Letters stand signing his new book. The talented baker/bookseller, Jordan Smith was also there — a terrific twofer. I bought a book, Ham signed it, we all hugged and I dashed off. I should have thought to take a selfie, but nope, I didn’t. Subbing a picture of Ham, Sohla and their daughter.

Photo: Laura Murray

With Hello, Home Cooking, we get to have Ham in our kitchens, helping to make things simpler and smarter and more delicious, but also helping us to stretch, to discover dishes that may be new to us — there are bunches that are first-timers for me — and to make us rethink dishes and ingredients we know. Here’s to a chocolate ganache tart in a Fritos crust; refried butter bean tacos; zucchini poached in yogurt; and cuties that look like muffins but are garlic bread buns (almost like mochi). I can’t wait to make the Tomato Dressed in Tomato on Toast, and the Spicy Roasted Potato that’s got cherry peppers and gochujang. The recipes are exciting — the kind that make you want to jump into the kitchen. Which is just what I did when I saw the shiitake recipe.

Tomato Dressed in Tomato on Toast // Photo: Laura Murray

TARTINES, TOMATOES & MISO IN THE ARCHIVE

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Did I mention …

The shiitake recipe that I’ve fallen in love with is made in a microwave. Ham says he’s not a microwave guy and I’ve got to say that while I use mine every day, it’s mostly for heating milk for my coffee, melting butter for baking or defrosting something quickly. I rarely think to use it for real cooking, but it was perfect for this dish. The “sauce” is based on scallions, ginger, garlic, miso and soy with splashes of rice vinegar and sesame oil. If you love these ingredients the way I do, just listing them is enough to make you almost taste them. They’re steamed in the microwave with the stemmed shiitakes and ready in about six minutes! Push-button magic.

And now it’s off to the market for me (it’s so crazy hot that I’m thinking of taking an umbrella as a parasol). Cook, bake, share, let me know what you’re up to. I’m always interested.

📚 📚 📚 You can find more recipes in my latest books, Dorie’s Anytime Cakes, Baking with Dorie, and Everyday Dorie.

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STEAMED SHIITAKES WITH GINGER-GARLIC-SCALLION SAUCE

• A microwave recipe from a not-microwave guy

• Adapted from “Hello, Home Cooking.” Copyright © 2026 by Ham El-Waylly. Photographs copyright © 2026 by Laura Murray. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, A division of Penguin Random House LLC.

• Get your copy on Bookshop // B&N // Amazon

• Click here for printable recipe

Here’s what Ham says:

David Chang, I’m not trying to encroach on your territory, but this is a microwave recipe. This is my one and only microwave trick. Look, it’s a great tool for steaming vegetables. If you toss vegetables with a splash of water in a sealed container, the microwave becomes a fast, easy way to steam. Just do it in bursts so you don’t overcook them. My favorite vegetable to use for this technique is the mushroom, which is, in general, a very underrated steamed veggie. I love what steaming does to the texture of shiitakes, making them juicy and tender with a hint of chew. This recipe is a side dish, but it is also a deeply flavorful condiment for soups, noodles and rice. It lasts in the refrigerator for five days, so I like to make a batch at the beginning of the week and dip into it whenever I eat something that needs a savory umami boost.

GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START

The microwave: If you have a microwave and love shiitakes, make this recipe! Make it once, and you’ll make it again because there are so many ways to use it. I sometimes just nip one from the fridge and nibble it on its own.

The scallions: I scattered freshly cut scallions over the mushrooms before serving.

The steaming: I shook the container a couple of times during steaming to mix the sauce and mushrooms. Probably not needed, but since this recipe requires almost zero effort, I was feeling guilty and needed to do something.

The reheating: I used the mushrooms over noodles, over orzo, alongside fish and on their own, each time warming them in a covered container in the microwave for about 1 minute.

The stems: Channeling my inner Mariko from Japan, I sun-dried the discarded mushroom stems on the bamboo tray I brought back from Tokyo — they’ll go into miso soup one day.

Makes about 4 cups

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed

• 1 bunch of scallions (green and white parts) thinly sliced

• 2-inch piece of ginger, finely grated

• 6 garlic cloves, finely grated

• 1 Thai chili, thinly sliced [Ed: I didn’t have one so I used a few strips of serrano]

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon white miso

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

• 1/4 cup neutral oil

DIRECTIONS

Place the shiitake caps on a microwave-safe container that has a tight-fitting lid.

In a medium bowl, combine the scallions, ginger, garlic, Thai chili, soy, miso, sesame oil and vinegar. Then, whisk until the miso is fully incorporated and no lumps remain. Add the neutral oil and whisk again.

Dump the sauce into the shiitakes and cover with a lid, leaving one corner popped, as if it’s winking at you (it is!). Microwave in 1-minute bursts until the shiitakes are fully tender, 6 to 6 minutes (see above). Let rest with the lid closed for 5 minutes before serving.

PS: If you want to make just the ginger-scallion sauce, you can microwave the sauce in 1-minute bursts until the scallions have wilted and the garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes. Store in your fridge in a container with a tight lid for up to a week.