Other cooks prefer to freeze their dried shiitakes. I suppose it depends on humidity where you live. Where do you stand? Dried shiitakes require soaking before you can use them. One of the things I recently started doing is removing the stem beforehand. I snap them off with my fingers or hack them off with a cleaver. The stems can be used for stock later on. Just toss them back into your container. Put the mushroom in a bowl, add water, and tumble the shiitake around to wet them.
Then turn them so the absorbent gills point down. Follow this long soak method and the rehydrated mushrooms will be deeply flavored, amazingly firm and velvety when cut. A long soak works wonders on cheapie dried shiitakes too! Pressed for time? But, you get what you need fast. Regardless of soaking method, before using your plumped up mushrooms, rinse out any particles of sand or dirt trapped under the gills, and give each a gentle squeeze to expel excess water.
Reconstituted shiitake mushrooms can be refrigerated in a zip-top bag or airtight container for several days. The mushroom soaking liquid is particularly good if you need to boost umami in vegetarian dishes, like the roasted kabocha squash dumplings. Just today, I combined the soaking liquid with canned chicken broth to add extra flavor to a pot of chicken and shiitake mushroom rice. I tend to not use a bunch of the soaking liquid as is because it can overwhelm other ingredients and turn a dish into a damp forest floor.
The fresh ones at Chinese markets are super affordable but know that they often come from China. But then, the dried shiitakes that I buy are from China. Occasionally excellent domestically cultivated fresh shiitakes are sold at my local market. Otherwise, I walk right past the fresh shiitakes.
If a recipe calls for fresh ones, like the udon with clams and shiitake a Japanese take on Italian pasta with clams or Korean shrimp dumplings, I'd sub rehydrated dried mushroom for the fresh adding a little extra moisture soaking liquid or water as needed to mimic the fresh mushroom texture and impact on the dish.
Shiitake mushroom are workhorses in many Asian kitchens. Links to Amazon from this website may generate a small amount of income to help support VWK. Advertisements also enable ongoing content creation. Thanks for visiting and contributing to good food knowledge! As a kid I used to pick out the nam dong co from my mom's stir fry dishes like mien xao dai han. Thank you for the tips, the ones mom used to buy resemble the wimpy ones more - maybe that was the problem? Awesome advice.
I've long used dried shiitake, mostly as a sushi ingredient. But my "meh" attitude toward them when used other ways now makes sense — I was buying sub par shiitake, and totally getting snookered by the pretty on top, crappy underneath packaged types! Thanks for this informative post. I think that raw shiitakes can provoke an allergic reaction. I sometimes add a little sugar if using mushrooms in a broth or soup, it counteracts the slight bitterness that you sometimes get.
Hi Andrea, Great read. I've been waiting to read an article like this. It is very useful. I can't wait to go to the grocery store to search for mushrooms. I often time have no idea how to pick it when I go to the store. Do you have a preferred go-to brand s? Thanks for these tips. I always see them in the supermarket when I'm in Asia but I avoid them because I don't know how to cook them.
I don't want anything to go wrong and the whole thing ends up tasting differently from what I expect. I prefer having mushrooms when they are prepared by someone who has lots of experience with them. The liquid contains lots of nutrition and rich flavor, and this is an excellent dashi broth. When we, the Japanese, cook at home, we use this broth for miso soup, udon, simmered food, etc.
I have mine in a jar of water in the fridge for over 2 week, is it OK to use it that way? They look and taste perfect….
After rehydrating the shiitake mushrooms once, I usually take out the shiitake mushrooms. Then, keep the soup and mushrooms separately in the freezer.
That way, it tastes good for a month. Thank you for the comment. Sorry for the late reply. Would you send us the link when you do? Traditional Crafts. In general, smaller mushrooms need about half an hour, and thicker caps can take up an hour to soften.
When the mushrooms have softened, pour the soaking liquid through a coffee filter or a sieve lined with a paper towel to strain out the grit, and reserve the liquid for use in other cooking—it adds delicious mushroom flavor to soups, braises, pilafs, and pan sauces. Dried shiitake mushrooms should be sealed in plastic and stored in a cool, dry place. They'll keep for at least nine months. How to Buy.
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