I find myself with a large supply of dried shitaki mushrooms,

[flamin lib]

large as in a little more than a gallon sized container.

Even when reconstituted they remain a bit chewy. I've used them in soups and stews, pasta dishes and even powered them in my spice grinder for a thickening agent.

Is it possible to use them more or less alone as a side dish? I really like mushrooms for both flavor and texture but dried 'shrooms are a bit tough.

Thanks!

[yellerpup]

1. I like using dried mushrooms.

But, the shitake never seem to soften the way, say porcinis do. Sorry I don't have the answer to your question, but I hope someone knows the secret and can tell us both. :hi:

[beac]

2. The stems of shitakes are generally pretty tough,

so if your dried ones aren't stemless to begin with, try cutting off the stems after reconstituting and see if that helps.

[flamin lib]

4. I trim the stems off but the caps remain chewy--not bad chewy but a bit much. nt

[Denninmi]

3. Try a really long soak on the caps.

Try pouring boiling water over them, and then put the whole thing in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours once it has cooled to room temp. I think that will bring the caps back to a decent texture.

Nothing, to my knowledge, will make the stems tender enough to eat as is, since as someone pointed out above, even fresh shitake have very tough stems. But you can still use the stems to flavor dishes, just remove them like a bay leaf. You could even tie stems up in a cheesecloth and use them similar to a bouquet garni.

[flamin lib]

5. I've not tried waiting that long. Think I'll put some in to soak right now for

Thursday's dinner. I do discard the stems tho.

Thanks.

[Warpy]

6. I find them better as a flavoring agent with something else.

One of my favorite veggie meals is reconstituted shrooms stemmed and sliced, pea pods, ginger and scallion. The sauce is the shroom soaking water (minus the grit on the bottom) thickened with cornstarch. People swear there's meat in this one because it tastes amazingly hearty.

I've used the stems in with a bouquet garni to give a little extra punch to an otherwise bland little soup.

However, the flavor is so strong that I can't imagine eating them as a side all by themselves, even the fresh ones I occasionally find here. Some people do mix them in with regular button mushrooms for mushrooms on toast, but that's as solitary as I've ever seen them be.

[Glassunion]

7. They are great in sauces.

Re-hydrate them using the instructions on the package.

Once re-hydrated remove them from the water and retain both the mushrooms and the water used to re-hydrate them.

Mince 2 shallots,a clove of garlic and the mushrooms.

In a saute pan sweat the onions and garlic in about 2 tablespoons of oil.

Once the onions are translucent add the minced mushrooms and saute for about 3 minutes. They will start to stick to the pan.

Add a tablespoon of butter to the pan along with about 2 tablespoons of wondra(or similar flour) and whisk until flour turns golden.

Deglaze the mixture with 1/2 a cup of white wine continually whisking.

Slowly start to the water that you retained earlier until you achieve the thickness you desire in your sauce.

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Overall I use them as bases for sauces and side dishes. Look at my vegetarian dish I posted a while back. I leave them whole but I caramelized them to give them a better texture.

[flamin lib]

8. I'll be saving this, it sounds wonderful. nt

[Sentath]

9. I've been playing with a bag of them from a Chinese grocer

I have left them on to boil for over 2 hours without softening them much past initial rehydration.

OTOH putting a couple in the blender (dry) and reducing them to powder really gives meatloaf a kick in the umami.