Dried Mushrooms 101

[breathexercise]

My last visit the a large neighborhood Asian market revealed a whole section of the store devoted to dried mushrooms. I bought some shitake's and reconsituted the with hot water for 20 minutes, then squeezed out the water and used them as I would regular ones. They turned out kind of chewy, and at first I didn't care for them too well. But by the end of the meal, I found I kinda liked the chewiness.

These things are a real bargain. At those prices, I could eat as much as I wanted, whereas the "fresh" ones are only for special occasions. I'd like to learn more . . . such as:

What's the best way to reconstitute?

Best uses?

Do's and Don'ts?

Recommended types (I didn't recognize some of their exotic names)?

Etc.?

On my way to becoming a real Fungi,

Wayne

[Nick]

I don't know much about this, but I always soak my dried shitakes in cold water.

[rlibkind]

Today's B.C.:

http://www.comics.com/creators/bc/archive/...03121016506.gif

Edited December 7, 2003 by Jason Perlow (log)

[Big Bunny]

In Chinese cooking, 'black mushrooms' which have been dried,

then reconstituted are a 'different animal' from the fresh.

They are delicious, turn up everywhere in Chinese dishes.

From the Chinese point oF view they have it all - flavor,

fragrance and texture.

BB

[budrichard]

There appears to be two main sources of dried 'Chinese Mushrooms' that I have encountered. One is from Japan which is what I use and the other is from China which I don't on purely health reasons as I don't know how they are grown in China whereas I have faith in the Japanese. In the stores in Chinatown are huge baskets of these things at tempting prices. -Dick

[essvee]

If you look closely, many Chinese markets have quite a few different grades of dried shiitakes. The larger, lighter, and more uniform size they are, the more expensive they are. Once you get used to cooking with shiitakes, splurge on a package of expensive ones and make something special with them. They are very different then the small dark shriveled ones that are bargain priced.

An idea, perhaps an eGullet cooking class dedicated to Chinese ingredients, in particular the esoteric dried items that even with my many years of research don't know what to do with?

The best thing I know to do with dried shiitakes is to make the chicken and black mushroom clay pot from Ken Hom's Fragrant Harbor Taste (my fave Chinese cookbook).

[budrichard]

Agree about the Chinese ingrediants! I finally purchased a bag of Shark's Fins at an insane price but they were whole fins. not the shredded material and looked good. Using a classic recipe, I have made the 'soup' that is better than what we can get in Chicago's Chinatown. -Dick

[fifi]

Welcome to eGullet, breathexercise.

This is a great topic. When I found the wonderful world of Asian markets a few years ago, the first thing I went ape over was the price and selection of the dried mushrooms. I still don't know if I am using them as I should. In stir fry I sometimes find them a bit chewy and wonder if I should be letting them soak longer or should the reconstituting process be different. That doesn't seem to be a problem when I use them in long simmered stews and such. That makes me think that I should be doing something different for stir fry.

Any dried mushroom gurus out there?

An eGCI class on chinese ingredients is a great idea.

[Big Bunny]

essvee: Amen to "Fragrant Harbor Taste"

fifi: The almost-rote way to prepare dried black mushrooms is

to soak them in hot - not boiling - water for 15-30 minutes.

They sometimes need to be cleaned a bit - the stems are always

discarded - some authors throw the soaking water away - some

use it in soup.

Because of their "meatiness", they are a mainstay of Chinese

vegetarian cooking.

I usually cut them in two, next to the stem, remove the stem

but waste as little as possible - then julienne/dice or whatever

the recipe asks.

That slippery, gummy feel is just part of their "thing." Chinese

cooking thrives on various, often unfamiliar, textures.

BB

[torakris]

I don't know too much about the "Chinese" mushrooms but here is some info on the Japanese ones

There are a couple basic grades:

donko, the highest grade and the most prized of these is the hana donko, these tend to be small and the caps curved so tightly under they almost appear round. The hana donko often have a beautiful pattern, like cracks, on the cap. It is best to soak these overnight.

koushin, these are the thin flat ones that have no curling of the cap

kouko, are in between donko and koushin, of a medium thickness they have caps that are curled under at the end

bareha, are the really cheap ones, very thin and flat, they have edges that look frayed, these need a very short soak to be reconstituted.

look here for pictures:

http://www.jinseki.co.jp/kind.html

the text in Japanese, so here is the order

hana donko

donko

kouko

koushin

bareha

(sliced)

[Anna N]

Thanks, Kristin. This is a very useful piece of info and a good link to see the differences in these dried mushrooms.

[helenjp]

also, cheap dried mushrooms are likely to be "kiln-dried" -- they are more brittle, and of course, mechanical drying is likely to be used on the cheaper grade mushrooms, so the caps are usually flatter and thinner.

Stir-frying with dried mushrooms...that's definitely pushing your barrow uphill! They are used mostly in long-simmered dishes, though sometimes the soaked mushroom is used in one dish, and the soaking liquid used for cooking rice, in soups, or other dishes.

[fifi]

Stir-frying with dried mushrooms...that's definitely pushing your barrow uphill!

So that is my problem.

That is a great link, torakris. Are there similar pages about the other kinds of dried mushrooms? Do the others have the same kinds of grades?

[lorea]

Yes, the dried mushrooms are much more aromatic than the fresh ones! Definitely a different experience.

If you don' t like the chewiness, I find the pre-sliced dried mushrooms are less chewy than the whole ones, and they reconstitute VERY quickly (~5 minutes in hot water). I use these when I'm in a hurry, otherwise, I use the very expensive ones. There's usually a huge price difference between the cheap and expensive ones, but it's worth it! The expensive ones have an almost silky texture than the cheaper ones.

Dried mushrooms are really good in stews and rice dishes. There's a really good dish where you steam glutinous rice, mushrooms, pork, shrimp, and Chinese sausages in lotus leaf or bamboo leaves. You can also use them in stir-fries, along with the soaking water. Or try it with fried rice....it completely changes the taste of the entire dish.

[Shiewie]

Dried shitake mushrooms are a stand-by in our larder - it's really versatile and can be for loads of asian / Chinese dishes - sliced in omelettes, stir-fried with various vegies, stir-fried with tofu dishes, in soups, braised / stewed with meats and stir-fried with noodles.

The expensive hana donko that torakris mentioned are called "fah gu" in Cantonese.

I soak them in hot water whereas my mother soaks them in cold water... and it doesn't seem to make much difference. We use the stems as well - just slice them very thin as they're more chewy than the caps. The soaking liquid can be used too but make sure you strain it well to get rid of the grit collected.

[jawbone]

Another Asian mushroom that I am curious about is the wood ear or tree ear. I see them called for in recipes but don't know what they look like and can't read the signs/packages in the Asian groceries. A class on Asian ingredients--that had pictures of every item--would be fabulous.

[riboflavinjoe]

i the holiday edition of bon appetit or gourmet or something, there is a recipe for burgers with porcini, gorgonzola, and veal demi glace. dried porcini are used, they advise you to soak them in hot water for 20 minutes, chop the mushrooms coarsely, reduce the soaking liquid, and let the whole lot together, cool off, and integrate them into the burgers, both the porcini and the liquid. mmm, maybe ill make that for supper.

[Big Bunny]

Here is a good recipe using dried mushrooms from Andrea Nguyen's

Viet World Kitchen site:

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/recipes/veg/asparagus.htm

The textures, color, and flavors work very nicely here, and instead

of being buried, the mushrooms "co-star."

BB

[torakris]

Another Asian mushroom that I am curious about is the wood ear or tree ear. I see them called for in recipes but don't know what they look like and can't read the signs/packages in the Asian groceries. A class on Asian ingredients--that had pictures of every item--would be fabulous.

here is a thread on the wood ear mushroom from the Japan forum

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=22840

[trillium]

I used dried black mushrooms, cloud ears and lilly buds in a steamed dish in my eGullet culinary institute class here. I included a photo of what they look like dried, and properly hydrated.

regards,

trillium

[breathexercise]

Thanks so much for the great feedback. I would also love a cooking class on the ingredients to be found in Asian markets. I live in Fort Worth, TX, and when I go into the Asian markets, it's a great pleasure being the only caucasian person in there. If someone did a cooking class, it might help if there were any pointers they could give on cross cultural gaffes - what to do and say and what not. I'd hate for my neighbors to breathe a sigh of relief when I walk out of their fascinating store. Whenever I want to go to SE Asia, it's just a 5 minute drive away!

Another question:

I've heard that mushrooms are enormously healthy. Are dried mushrooms considered just as healthy as fresh? Differences?

Thanks again,

Wayne

[tammylc]

I bought a 1 lb bag of dried shiitakes at Costco this weekend for a big meal I'm cooking. I'll be combining them with other mushrooms, so I'm trying to figure out how much of the other mushrooms I need to buy. Once they're rehydrated, anyone have a guess on what they'd equate to in fresh (with regard to weight or volume or something)?

[Chufi]

tammy, I did a very quick googlesearch and according to this website 1 pound fresh mushrooms equals 3 ounces dried.

good luck with your big dinner, I read about in the other thread and it sounds delicious!

[PicnicChef]

Are you interested in other dried mushrooms that Asian?

Dried Morels are excellent, and much more available than fresh, that are available less than one month a year and can only foraged.

Dried chanterelles are lovely as well.

Dried Porcini tend to be quite dirty and need to be rinsed well before they are soaked.

I always soak dried mushrooms in warm water. With porcini, chanterelle and morel I save the liquid...run it through a coffee filter first, however, then use it in your sauce.

dried morels love sherry...

[Kent Wang]

Reconstitute a sample and try it first. The dried shitakes I buy at the Chinese market taste very different from fresh ones. Many Chinese prefer dried ones as they supposedly concentrate the flavor. I'm not really sure how that works scientifically, but that has definitely been true in my experience. Fresh whole shitakes are very edible whole and have a nice soft, oyster-like texture. The dried shitakes that I've tried have a much tougher texture and are much more powerful in flavor and are more suitable for a brine or chopped into small bits. If you take a bite out of a whole reconstituted dried shitake the taste will be rather bitter and medicinal. I prefer to chop a fresh shitake into about three or four pieces, but a dried one must be chopped into at least 10 pieces and cooked with other ingredients to make it palatable.

It's possible that the difference is not due to the drying process but rather the Chinese shitakes are stronger to begin with. I'm not certain, but I would definitely recommend trying a sample first.