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mushrooms

margaret

By margaret
in Japan: Cooking & Baking

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margaret

margaret

Posted
Posted

Inspired by the cleaning mushrooms thread in another forum...

What are your favorite types of Japanese mushrooms? What do you do with them? Any you can't stand? Shiitake, enoki, nameko, matsutake, shimeji...

I probably use enoki the most - in miso shiru, sauteed with butter-shoyu, in japanese-style pasta dishes, grilled. Matsutake are a luxury, so expensive here in the States.

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torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted

I can't think of any Japanese mushrooms that I don't like, though it did take me a while to get used to nameko.

You diddn't mention the one I like the most though, maitake! :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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smallworld

smallworld

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I like plain old shiitake. Matsutake are expensive here in Japan too, so I've rarely tried them. I like them, but they aren't good enough to justify the high prices, IMO.

There are several 'new' kinds of mushrooms in Japan, the only one I've tried is eringi (spelling?) which I love! If it was priced more reasonably it would be my favourite!

My eGullet foodblog: Spring in Tokyo

My regular blog: Blue Lotus

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Jinmyo

Jinmyo

Posted
Posted (edited)

All mushrooms are wonderful.

The ones I use most ubitously are shitake (or Chinese huagu, flower mushrooms, which are similar).

Enkoi are great for noodle-like impressions in a dish.

Eryengi are okay but look like porcini but don't deliver the flavour. They're just a form of oyster mushroom.

Edited by Jinmyo (log)

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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torakris

torakris

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I agree with smallworld, matsutake are great but I have never eaten one that was worth its price.

Look around for cheap eryngii, I buy the packs for 100yen quite often.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Jinmyo

Jinmyo

Posted
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Bacon wrapped in bacon and grilled is yummy too.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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Jinmyo

Jinmyo

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Well, for example, Margaret. A seafood soup (dashi with cooking juices from steamed mussels and stock made from shrimp shells) with a few shreds of wakame, shelled mussels and grilled shrimp with enoki mushrooms. Plate so that there is only a small amount of broth, a mound of goldcen thread mushrooms in the centre, two mussels and one shrimp to the left, garnish with some minced green and red chile.

Or more simply, a dashi with baby spinach and golden thread mushrooms.

As you pull the mushrooms up with your hashi they feel reminescent of somen or cappeli d'angelo.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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Steve Plotnicki

Steve Plotnicki

Posted
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Sugiyama has a great way to prepare shumeji mushrooms. They just throw an entire piece of mushroom directly into boiling oil. No breading or coating of any kind. They don't let it cook for too long, just long enough so the outside of the muchroom gets a bit shrivele. And then they sprinkle some salt on it while it is draining. The end product is a great combination of a slighly tough exterior with a soft and warm interior that gives two different kind of mushroom flavors as well. It's a good combination of textures and flavors.

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torakris

torakris

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Is there a website where I can see pictures of these mushrooms?  When I go to an Asian market I know I'm looking at mushrooms but I can't identify the different kinds.

here is a site you can check out:

http://www.foodsubs.com/Mushroom.html

It is all mushrooms so you sort of have to scroll down looking for the Asian ones.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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  • 11 months later...
Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted
I can't think of any Japanese mushrooms that I don't like, though it did take me a while to get used to nameko.

You diddn't mention the one I like the most though, maitake! :biggrin:

I almost started a new thread about mushrooms. I'm kind of disappointed to find out that there is already one, because I love the Japanese word kinoko, which is, quite literally, children of trees, and I wanted to start a new thread "Kinoko-Chidlren of Trees" - What an Adorable Name for Something So Delicious!. The word mushroom is just that, mushroom, at least for me.

For starters, I'd like you to enjoy the following website. Just love the music.

http://www.hokto-kinoko.co.jp/chokusoubin/song.html

and this site. Just love the photos.

http://www.cx.sakura.ne.jp/~kinoko/01eng/0e_home.htm

I'd like to talk about maitake and other kinokos later.

My blog
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helenjp

helenjp

Posted
Posted

Hiratake! My all out favorite! Nothing so good in a "ni-bitashi" dish (simmered in a soy-seasoned broth, then served doused with the cooled broth)! Shimeji are great for most purposes, but don't you agree that hiratake have the edge?

Just love the music.

Our local supermarket plays that tape on a near-dead tape recorder. Every few seconds, the tape jams, and then the song moans into life again. Mushrooms can revive anything?!

Enoki fried in butter used to be a favorite cheap nomiya dish in my youth.

Maitake...hmmm...matsutake...hmmm...nope, shimeji/hiratake and shiitake definitely win!

Helenjp

* Pickles foodblog

* New Year foodblog

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sizzleteeth

sizzleteeth

Posted
Posted

Maitake are by far my favorite followed by Hon Shimeji. There is a soup that is a specialty of Akita prefecture called Kiritampo Nabe - Kiritampo is mochigome wrapped around a skewer and then toasted - an old dish made by Akita Matagi is a soup of rice done in this style with Maitake, Shirataki, Gobo and spring onion in a chicken broth made from the local Jidori

chickens of Hinai - I make it with Amish chicken since Hinai Jidori cannot be obtained here in the states - but out of all the nabes I've had or made this is my favorite and Maitake are key to the flavor. In America they are called "Hen of the Woods".

You can get them at places like Sunset Foods and Mitsuwa Marketplace - or you could order them online from here.

http://earthy.com/a_mushrooms.htm

"At the gate, I said goodnight to the fortune teller... the carnival sign threw colored shadows on her face... but I could tell she was blushing." - B.McMahan

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Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

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Posted
In America they are called "Hen of the Woods".

"Hen of the Woods"! What an interesting name! It's good to know that. Thank you for the information.

Maitake: "mai" comes from the verb mau, or to dance; "take" means mushroom. There are two possible origins of that word, 1) It (its petals?) looks as if it were dancing and 2) It's so hard to find that you'll start dancing if you do.

Two corrections:

1) Hon Shimeji:

You probably mean Buna Shimeji. Hon Shimeji cannot still be artificially cultivated. Hon Shimeji is harder to find in the woods than Matsutake. In Japan, Buna Shimeji and even Hiratake have been, and still are, sold under the false name of Hon Shimeji. :angry:

2) Kiritampo is mochigome ...:

Kiritampo is made from uruchi-gome (ordinary rice), not mochigome.

My blog
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sizzleteeth

sizzleteeth

Posted
Posted (edited)

Thank you Hiroyuki for your information - it is good to know that the mushrooms I have been buying may be mislabeled perhaps on purpose - they are labeled "Hon Shimeji" and purport

to be cultivated by the original esteemed method. I buy them at a large Japanese market called Mitsuwa.

I know in the woods they grow on Beech Trees and are referred to sometimes as Beech Mushrooms as well as Buna-shimeji, Buna Hon shimeji and Tomo-motashi.

What is the reason that Hon-shimeji are not possible to cultivate?

Also forgive me if my interperatation of Kiritampo is incorrect as I was told it originated from

"kane mochi" cakes which were purported to be made with glutinous rice and miso - then wrapped around a cedar skewer and toasted.

Though I do see in looking around that it seems maybe some people do it one way

and some do it another such as this example:

http://www.media-akita.or.jp/akita-shoku/kiritanpo2E.html

When you rely on 3 parties for your knowledge - sometimes things get misintepereted - then again - I suppose most things are subjective. :smile:

Edited by sizzleteeth (log)

"At the gate, I said goodnight to the fortune teller... the carnival sign threw colored shadows on her face... but I could tell she was blushing." - B.McMahan

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