In the plant-based cooking, we love to use a variety of mushrooms because mushrooms have differently unique flavours and meaty-like texture. It also brings umami in the plant-based dishes. Most of them have high in nutrition value, such as protein and a number of vitamin. If you put them under sunlight and let them exposed to the sunlight, the vitamin D in mushroom will be increased in a high chance.
Mushrooms are mostly composed of water in majority, so their size will shrink after cooking.
Shiitake mushroom
Shiitake mushrooms have a uniquely strong flavour. Mushrooms are divided into fresh or dried. Dried shiitake mushrooms have a more umami than fresh shiitake mushrooms. Mushrooms with large umbrellas, thick flesh, inward-rolled umbrella edges, complete shapes, and short mushroom stems are superior relatively. Dried shiitake mushrooms are better if the mushroom caps have white patterns. This type of shiitake mushrooms are called “flower mushrooms”. When choosing dried flower mushrooms, we should avoid those that have black spots because they have been affected by moisture. We should also avoid those which have a musty smell or look pink.
How to soak dried shiitake mushrooms
Dried mushrooms are washed with clean water first, then soaked in cold water with corn flour for ten minutes, and then rinsed with cold water. The corn flour will help clean the dirt buried inside the dried mushrooms during the soaking and rinsing process. After washing, we let mushroom soaked in cold water until they become soft. When soaking dried shiitake mushrooms, we cannot soak them in hot water, otherwise the aroma of shiitake mushrooms will be weakened or removed. After soaking, you can squeeze out the water for cooking. The water after soaking mushrooms can be used for cooking to add umami into a variety of plant-based dishes.
King oyster mushroom
King oyster mushroom is also named as pleurotus eryngii. It has a clear almond fragrance, and tastes like abalone and meat. King oyster mushroom is one of the most flavorful mushrooms. Compared with other mushrooms, the water content is low.
King oyster mushrooms are superior if they are with thick round stalks, milky white colour, straight stalks, and elasticity when pressed lightly.
Abalone mushroom
Abalone mushrooms are rich in protein and amino acids which people need. When we choose abalone mushrooms, we should choose the abalone mushrooms with large mushroom faces, thick and short stems, and light brown colour. The big abalone mushroom has a fishy smell.
Enoki mushroom
Enoki mushroom is also known as flammulina velutipes. When we choose the enoki mushroom for cooking, we will prefer them in milky white colour and the length of around 15 to 18 cm. The enoki mushroom of longer than 18 cm in length represents mature mushroom. In order to keep the freshness of enoki mushroom, we should wrap them well so as to minimise the contact time between the enoki mushroom and air. Enoki mushroom has a chewy texture.
In the market, besides the white enoki mushroom, there are also yellow enoki mushroom, which are similar in appearance, but the colour of the mushroom head is obviously different. Yellow Enoki mushroom is good for us to stimulate collagen growth.
Straw mushroom
Straw mushrooms have iron and vitamin C. When we select straw mushrooms, we should pick those with intact legs, complete umbrellas, and no other variegated colours such as black and pink. Straw mushrooms cannot be eaten raw. It is recommended to blanch them first before cooking. After cooking, it is recommended to finish eating on the same day and not leave it for the next day.
Hongxi mushroom
Hongxi mushroom has a smooth taste. Hongxi mushrooms can be stir-fried or stewed.
White mushroom
White mushrooms can be fried, stir-fried, grilled, and cooked in soups. When we select white mushrooms, the mushrooms should be white without scars, have round umbrellas, and the stems can be squeezed gently without any water flowing out.
Lion’s mane mushroom
Lion’s mane mushroom is also named as hericium erinaceus. It is white when it is fresh and light brown when it is dried. When we pick lion’s mane mushroom, we prefer the ones that are white with yellow in colour and relatively light-weight. Dried lion’s mane has bitterness. Before cooking, we’ve better remove the bitterness flavour.
Black fungus
The black fungus is chewy. Dried black fungus needs to be soaked in water before cooking. When we select fresh black fungus, we’ve better choose those that are thick and dark in colour. When we pick dry black fungus, we prefer the ones that is dry without cracks.
There are many kinds of fresh mushrooms, which are indispensable ingredients in a number of plant-based dishes. There are fresh mushrooms and dried mushrooms. The mushroom are the same, but the flavours can vary after drying them. Let us understand them more like its characteristics, texture, and flavours of different mushrooms. We can use them to cook a number of delicious plant-based dishes.
