This spicy black lentils with mushrooms is an amazing black lentil breakfast recipe. Try this black lentils with eggs or with even more mushrooms!
Some days call for a lazy brunch and today was that day. Enter these spicy black lentils. A perfect vehicle for a gooey sunny side up egg and a swoosh of sambal oolek. Finished with radishes and cilantro for a bit of brightness, this recipe is an explosion of flavor and contrast.
I prefer black lentils – often called beluga lentils – to green or red because black lentils tend to hold their shape perfectly. They don’t become mushy when cooked, making them perfect for any type of salad dish you can imagine. The best part about cooking with black lentils? They only take about 20 minutes in simmering water to finish up cooking. Similar to green or red, I prefer to salt after they’ve cooked, just to be extra positive they won’t lose their shape or toothsome texture.
How to Make Spicy Black Lentils with Mushrooms:
Making this recipe is a breeze. First, prepare the black lentils. While the lentils are cooking, make the mushrooms. The mushrooms are simply stir-fried with onion, garlic, and Thai chili peppers until well-browned. Toss in some soy sauce and sesame oil and transfer it to the drained lentils and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm.
Wipe out the pot used to cook the mushrooms and fry up your eggs. Sunny-side up or over-easy works perfectly for this dish, but if you’re feeling adventurous, try it with poached!
Serve this black lentil breakfast recipe with a swoosh of sambal oolek on top of the egg for maximum spiciness and garnish the dish with cilantro and thinly sliced radish for a little brightness at the end.
Looking for more breakfast recipes? Check my archives!
If you made this recipe, please rate the recipe below and leave a comment to tell me how you liked it! If you take a picture of it, please tag me on Instagram so I can feature you in my feed!
Spicy Black Lentils with Mushrooms
Equipment
- Skillet
- Small pot
Ingredients
- 2½ cups water or stock
- 1 cup black lentils rinsed
- 2 teaspoons neutral oil for frying
- 1 yellow onion peeled and diced
- 5 ounces shiitake mushrooms caps sliced, stems discarded
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1-2 Thai chili peppers trimmed and minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs
- Salt and pepper to taste
For Garnish:
- A few cilantro leaves and tender stems
- 2 red radishes trimmed and thinly sliced into rounds
- Sambal oolek optional
Instructions
Cook the Lentils:
- Combine the lentils with the water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Drain and return to the pot and sprinkle very lightly with salt.
Cook the Mushrooms:
- While the lentils cook, prepare the mushrooms. Heat the avocado oil in a skillet over medium-high. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring often, for 6-7 minutes until it just begins to turn golden brown.
- Add the mushrooms and cook for an additional 7-8 minutes. Season lightly with salt.
- Once the mushrooms begin to brown around the edges, add the garlic and Thai chili pepper and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil and toss to coat. Cook for 2 minutes more. Turn off the heat.
Finish the Black Lentils:
- Spoon the mushroom mixture into the black lentils and toss to combine. Taste and add more soy sauce or sesame oil if desired. Keep warm.
Cook the Eggs:
- Melt the butter into the skillet and fry the eggs to your desired doneness. Baste the whites with the melted butter as they cook. Turn off the heat.
To Serve:
- Divide the cooked lentils between shallow bowls and place an egg on top. Garnish with cilantro and radish. Spoon a teaspoon of sambal oolek on to the egg white and use the back of your spoon to smoother the egg white with the sambal. Enjoy!
The egg made it perfect
Why discard mushroom stems, so wasteful.
You can keep them for other recipes (IE, frozen for stock etc) but they aren’t needed for this recipe in particular.