Scrumptious, medicinal, psychedelic, or typically lethal, mushrooms are equal elements fascinating and mysterious. Mushrooms and their mycelium nonetheless elude us, however we’ve develop into common mycophiles in all elements. The times of solely discovering white button, cremini, and portabello mushrooms on the grocery retailer are over. It’s commonplace to seek out contemporary shiitakes or oyster mushrooms amongst them and the farmers’ market brings much more varieties.
Must you wash mushrooms?
Should you’ve ever learn a recipe that makes use of mushrooms, you may need come throughout recommendation that it is best to by no means wash them as a result of they soak up water. As a substitute, many cookbooks advise you to wash them with a moist material. However, the cooking journal Cooks Illustrated advises washing them with water. Whereas there’s some absorption, the quantity is negligible.
Tips on how to use various kinds of mushrooms
There are simply over 2,000 species of edible mushroom species. This information doesn’t cowl all of them, however we chosen a few of the commonest sorts that you simply’ll discover within the grocery retailer or farmers’ market.
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1 White button mushrooms
Should you’re acquainted with just one type of mushroom, it’s in all probability white button, or Agaricus bisporus. White button mushrooms are a sort of gilled mushroom and they’re truly the identical as creminis and portabellas—which we’ll get to under—however they’re harvested at an earlier stage throughout their development cycle.
White button mushrooms are virtually flavorless of their uncooked state, however they shine once they’re used as an addition to a dish. Slice them up for a hearty vegan stew or cube them up and add them to a plant-based bolognese for a meaty texture. They’re additionally a great addition to tofu scrambles. If you wish to take pleasure in white button mushrooms in a purer type, slice them, then sauté them in oil or dairy-free butter with minced garlic and contemporary, chopped parsley.
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2 Cremini mushrooms
Often known as child bella mushrooms, cremini mushrooms are Agaricus bisporus harvested later of their development cycle. On account of this, they’ve a deeper, extra savory taste than white button mushrooms and are higher suited to consuming uncooked in salads. However, should you’re an umami fiend, then prepare dinner them the identical approach that you’d prepare dinner white button mushrooms. They can be filled with quite a lot of fillings, corresponding to vegan crab and dairy-free cream cheese.
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3 Portabella mushrooms
Noticeably greater than the youthful Agaricus bisporus, portabello mushrooms have a heartiness to their taste that may make ’shroom-haters shirk. It’s widespread to take away their stems and simply prepare dinner the caps, both marinated or plain. They’re versatile, so if a recipe requires white buttons or creminis, you should utilize portabellos.
Portabellos are nice stuffed, like in these spinach and mashed potato-stuffed mushrooms. However, they’re additionally a traditional veggie burger ingredient—both utilizing the entire cap or dicing and mixing it with different components corresponding to legumes and grains to type a patty.
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4 Shiitake mushrooms
Shiitake mushrooms—Lentinula edodes—are small brown mushrooms native to East Asia which are historically cultivated on logs. Now obtainable worldwide, fashionable shiitake mushrooms are often grown in managed situations, both on logs or in a man-made substrate.
These mushrooms, which can be found contemporary or dried, have a deep umami taste and can be utilized in all kinds of dishes, from sizzling pots and stir-frys to pasta sauces and vegan BLT sandwiches. Their woody stems are sometimes eliminated earlier than they’re cooked. Should you’re utilizing dried shiitake mushrooms, save the cooking liquid as a soup inventory—you are able to do the identical with the uncooked stems. At all times make sure that shiitake mushrooms are cooked totally. They’re identified to trigger a rash when eaten uncooked or undercooked.
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5 Maitake mushrooms
Often known as hen of the woods or Grifola frondosa, maitake mushrooms—which is Japanese for “dancing mushrooms”—have a golden brown colour and develop in delicate, ruffled conks. They’re polypore mushrooms, that means they inhabit stay or useless timber. Polypores assist the wooden rot and play a essential position in forest ecosystems.
Maitake are finest when younger, as they develop into powerful and woody when left to age. They are often baked, battered and fried, sautéed, grilled, or cooked and used as toppings, both on pizza or on a buttery crostini for a cocktail party or an evening in with family members.
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6 Oyster mushrooms
A staple of farmers’ markets, oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) are distinct from king oysters, which we’ll get to under. These gilled mushrooms are often white or gentle tan and the cabinets develop in overlapping, spherical clusters. Within the wild, these mushrooms develop on decaying timber in temperate and subtropical forests. They’ll even decompose plastic! Oyster mushrooms are generally foraged, however a lot of the ones you’ll discover are cultivated.
Oyster mushrooms flip slimy when cooked in quite a lot of liquid, so that they’re not fitted to soup or stew, however in any other case, they are often grilled, sautéed, or fried—particularly when coated with a crispy batter. They make an particularly nice substitute for seafood, both in a buttery linguine dish with contemporary parsley or in a sandwich, like this oyster mushroom po’boy.
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7 Enoki mushrooms
Flammulina velutipes, or enoki mushrooms, develop in clusters with lengthy, slender white stems and a small pin-cushion tip. Their taste is delicate and never notably noteworthy, however they’ve a pleasantly chewy texture that makes them suited to sauteing, grilling, braising, and including to sizzling pots, noodle soups, and sundubu jjigae (Korean mushy spicy mushy tofu stew). They’re additionally improbable in heat, combined mushroom salads.
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8 King oyster mushrooms
Wildly different-looking from oyster mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms—also called king trumpet, French horn mushrooms, or Pleurotus eryngii—have skinny brown caps and thick white stalks that give them a tree-like silhouette. They’ve a meaty, chewy texture that makes them the go-to ’shroom when changing meat or seafood. The mushrooms will be reduce vertically into skinny slices to make vegan bacon or the stalks will be reduce into cash to make an alternative choice to scallops. However, king oysters may take sautéing, frying, braising, grilling, in addition to being cooked in soups, stews, and sauces.
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9 Porcini mushrooms
Porcini—Italian for “piglet”—mushrooms have spherical brown caps and thick white stalks that develop on the base of timber. The earthy, nutty Boletus edulis is prized in Italian and French delicacies, so they’re particularly good in each cuisines, be it pasta, risottos, hearty soups like minestrone, and mushroom gravies. They’re often obtainable in contemporary or dried varieties. As with shiitakes, dried porcini mushrooms are sometimes used to raise the flavour of stews.
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10 Morel mushrooms
One of many holy grails of mushroom foraging, the morel mushroom, or Morchella, is gentle tan in colour with a conical, honeycomb-like cap. It’s truly extra carefully associated to truffles than they’re to mushrooms. This charismatic fungi sprouts from moist soil in forests between the months of March and Could. This quick harvesting interval implies that they are often pretty costly at $20 per pound once they’re in season.
These luxurious mushrooms have a savory taste when cooked they usually add depth to any dish. They’re suited to most types of cooking however as a result of they’re so expensive and distinctive, you would possibly need to use them in a approach that showcases the entire fungus.
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11 Chanterelle mushrooms
The stunning chanterelle, genus Cantharellus, is the golden baby of the mushroom-foraging world. These funnel-shaped woodland mushrooms are generally discovered close to hardwood timber, with which they share a powerful mycorrhizal (symbiotic) relationship. They’re additionally actually scrumptious. Chanterelles emit a fruity aroma and have a peppery chunk to them with notes of apricot, some say.
Chanterelles are finest in easy dishes the place their taste received’t be outshined. Attempt cooking them with gnocchi in a dairy-free garlic butter sauce with salt, pepper, contemporary parsley, or thyme, and a squeeze of lemon. While you prepare dinner them, the mushrooms develop into tender, however preserve some firmness.
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12 Shimeji mushrooms
Often known as Hypsizygus tessellatus, or beech mushrooms as a consequence of how they develop from useless or dying beech timber, shimeji mushrooms are native to East Asia. These edible fungi have lengthy, skinny stems and small caps. They arrive in white or brown varieties. As with the mushrooms from the Agaricus bisporus household, the latter has a extra apparent taste.
These mushrooms have a considerably crunchy texture with a light, nutty taste when cooked. They’re good in sizzling pots, rice bowls, soups, and stir-frys.
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13 Lion’s mane mushrooms
Hericium erinaceus, the lion’s mane mushroom, is a giant, white mushroom made up of lengthy, skinny strands that resemble the eponymous massive cat’s title. Practitioners of Chinese language conventional drugs have used this tree-borne fungus for hundreds of years. Lion’s mane mushrooms include substances that stimulate the expansion of mind cells, and research present they could enhance cognitive perform and scale back signs of hysteria and despair.
When cooked, this mushroom is claimed to style just like crab or lobster meat. So, it’s finest browned in a little bit little bit of olive oil with salt, pepper, and minimal seasoning.
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14 Wooden ear mushrooms
Wooden ear mushrooms, additionally identified by their scientific classification, Auricularia heimuer, are a crinkly kind of fungus with a colour that ranges from gentle to darkish brown. The wild selection grows on deciduous timber, however can also be cultivated for industrial functions on sawdust logs.
Fashionable in Chinese language delicacies, they’ve a gelatinous texture and delicate taste. Sometimes, they’re bought dried and should be rehydrated earlier than cooking. Use wooden ear mushrooms in sizzling pots, soups, and stir-frys.
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15 Hen of the woods mushroom
The coveted hen of the woods mushroom (Laetiporus sulphureus) is well noticed by its overlapping goldenrod-colored cabinets, ruffled edges, and enormous measurement. Foragers can discover these saprotrophic (feeds on useless timber), parasitic mushrooms on the base of useless or dying hardwood timber. They develop in North America and Europe and there are seven varieties within the former.
Hen of the woods will get its title from its taste, which individuals say is paying homage to hen meat and lemon. In vegan cooking, you may use it to interchange hen in hen piccata or sauté it in olive oil and add it to a pasta dish, like this angel hair pasta with dairy-free feta, kale, and lemon.
This listing is only a snippet of the flavors and textures of the edible fungus world. You’re prone to discover uncommon varieties on the farmers’ market. Should you do, ask the vendor how finest to prepare dinner them.
For extra on vegan cooking, learn:
5 Meaty Swaps That Aren’t Vegan Meat
The Comprehensive Guide to Vegan Butter
10 High-Protein Vegan Recipes
Kat Smith is a Queens, NY-based freelance author and editor who loves cooking and discovering native vegan hidden gems.
