Sept 2024
Updated Feb 2025
I love mushrooms and usually eat some everyday, they are so versatile and add umami to the food you eat with them. It is often said that mushrooms are like sponges and soak up water, to this end it is recommended that you don’t wash mushrooms in water, just use a dry brush to clean off any soil.
In my experience, mushrooms do not soak up cold water but they do have a high water content, which may lead to the erroneous idea that they soak up water. If you use a dry brush to clean off the soil on the mushrooms and then sauté them in a dry (non-stick) pan without adding any oil, you will find that after a few minutes the mushroom will give off a lot of water and this indicates that they are cooked. If you continue to sauté them until the moisture has been “boiled off” the taste is intensified. At this stage, the mushrooms will readily absorb fats (butter) or more hot water.
You could wash the mushrooms in cold running water, drain and repeat as above, you will find there is no real difference in the amount of water coming out of the mushrooms. You could soak the mushrooms in cold water to clean and then leave to drain. You will not find any real difference in the amount of water given off during cooking.
The most common mushrooms (in the UK) are probably the “Closed Cup”, these can be known as Crimini or Portobello. This “variety” and the name given will often relate to the size when “harvested”. “Baby mushrooms” are literally a few day old. “Closed Cup” will likely be about a week old before harvesting. “Portobello” are harvested later when the cap is more flat and has a diameter of 75mm +.
There are other varieties such as “Oyster”, “Shitake” and “Straw” (these look like small penises)! Italian dried mushrooms are called porcini, these are said to have a unique texture and aroma.
Whatever the variety, mushrooms are very versatile and very easy to cook, they are generall quite nutritious. They are a source of B vitamins, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and copper.
Recipes using mushrooms can be found on the WWW, adding mushrooms to other foods increases the umami. Mushrooms are quite robust in that the tend to keep their shape when cooked.
Lets cook mushrooms – closed cup, inc chestnut.
As a snack – Creamed Mushrooms on toast – serves 2 people. tasty and filling.
- Clean 200g of mushrooms, if needed, and chop as small or large as you like.
- Put the chopped mushrooms in a non-stick pan, add a little (sea) salt and (black) pepper.
- Cook mushrooms on a low / medium heat and keep stirring to prevent sticking.
- Add 2 Tablespoons of cornflour to 200Ml milk. Put the bread in the toaster.
- Add the milk / cornflour mix to the pan an keep stirring, add more milk or water to get the consistency that you want.
- Butter the toast and then add the mushroom mix.
- Enjoy your mushrooms on toast 🙂
I often find that I have a glut of mushrooms that are a few days old, this is a good way of using them up.
Note – Mushroom stalks / stems. These are perfectly edible, just trim off any dried / dodgy looking bits and chop along with the rest of the mushroom or remove the stalks and chop seperately.
As an addition to say steak. Probably more suited to the large flat (portobello) mushrooms.
- Clean the mushrooms with a brush.
- Remove stalk and chop into smaller bits.
- Place mushrooms in a non-stick pan fins uppermost.
- Sprinkle (sea) salt and pepper over mushrooms
- Add the chopped stalks
- Cook on low / medium heat.
- After a few minutes the mushrooms will start to fill with liquid.
- Turn the mushrooms over and continue to sauté for a few minutes to boil off the water.
- Add a knob of butter / garlic butter to your liking.
- Turn mushrooms over and continue to cook for a few minutes.
- Serve mushrooms with whatever else you’re cooking – maybe steak or bacon etc
As a starter – Garlic Mushrooms. Use button mushrooms ideally but could use chopped mushrooms.
- Clean the mushrooms and put into a warm non-stick pan – low heat.
- Keep them moving – shuffle or stir to stop them sticking to pan.
- After 4 or 5 mins, the mushrooms will start to give off moisture / water.
- Continue to sauté until the water has been boiled off, this intensifies the taste.
- Now add a knob of butter or Olive oil and continue to sauté for a few minutes.
- Add crushed or finely chopped garlic* continue to sauté for a few more minutes
- Add more butter or oil if you like the mushrooms swimming in butter / oil.
- Serve when ready 🙂
*Note about garlic. Fresh garlic is ideal, just squash it or use a garlic press or just finely chop it. Let the garlic stand for maybe 10 mins after chopping / squashing to allow the allicin to do its job. The longer you cook garlic, the more bitter it becomes.
You can use “Garlic Butter” or “Garlic Infused Olive Oil”. The amount of garlic is a personal choice.
As a main – Mushroom Loaf. Ideal for non meat eaters. Delicous and has a meaty texture.
- Clean the mushrooms and chop finely or coarsely – your choice
- Add chopped onions
- Add maybe nuts
- Put in loaf tin and cook in oven for about 45 mins.
Mushrooms are very verstile, You can Grill, Steam, Fry (sauté) and even Air Fry mushrooms. They only take minutes to cook. You can add them to things like stews and they will add that lovely umami taste. Chop them up or leave as whole, no problem.
You can even eat them raw but only if you really know what they are!
Freezing Mushrooms – no problem.
Mushrooms can be frozen fresh but they will probably lose the texture when thawed. It is better to dry sauté them to remove as much moisture as possible. When thawed, they should retain their shape and texture but mushrooms purchased frozen have been blast frozen (very quickly) so the texture is similar to fresh. Frozen mushrooms are ideal for adding to stews.
Drying mushrooms – for storage. If you have an Air Fryer with a “Dehydrate” setting (usually about 60 / 80 deg C).
- Clean and slice the mushrooms and place in a single layer on the Air Fryer (perforated) tray.
- Adust the heat setting to 60 or 80 Deg C and turn on the fryer.
- Check and maybe turn the mushrooms after 30 mins
- Dry for another 15 mins or so until they are dry.
Store in air tight jar or freeze. To use, place a little boiling water in a dish and add the mushrooms. They will be ready eat after the moisture has been absorbed. You might need to experiment with timings and temperature.
Use by date. I buy mushrooms in a 400g punnet and try to get a long use by date. When bought, the mushrooms are quite firm and look good but after few days they tend to discolour a little. I do prefer to eat them when they are really fresh but quite often, I eat them when they are a bit old. They are not as firm and the stalks might need a bit of trimming. As long as they haven’t started to feel slimy and don’t have an unpleasant smell
Enjoy your mushrooms and experiment. They will add umami to just about any dish you serve and can be enjoyed on their own. Try adding a small lump of cheese (feta, Chedder etc) to each mushroom. Make mushrooms the main event of a meal and enjoy the texture. If you cook the mushrooms and then close your eyes before tasting, you will often find that you appear to be eating meat.
You could try substituting say 50% of meat with mushrooms and find that you will enjoy the taste and flavour.