Green Tea Forum

T · Black Belt Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 108

Hi I'm new at using dried shiitake mushrooms. I just add them to my miso soup. I've been feeling a little bit sick the past week, and not sure if I'm preparing the dried mushrooms correctly. I've asked many people at the Asian markets about them but noone seems to know anything nor do they give any kind of warning. I've read about them in book and on the internet but I'm still confused.

Does anyone know how to prepare dried mushrooms to be taken on a daily basis with soup. Most of the shiitake that I have are a "product of China"

Kevangogh · Forum God Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 928 Location: Japan

Hi,

My Japanese wife just happened to be in the room while I was reading your post.

Soak them in a bowl of hot water until the mushrooms become soft, then slice them up. Do NOT toss out the brownish water, use that in the soup as well - it's really good for you.

T · Black Belt Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 108

Can I just throw them in the soup and let them sit for ten minutes ?

I tried to "blanch" them by boiling them for a few minutes then rinsing with cold water

Kevangogh · Forum God Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 928 Location: Japan

No. Soak them in a hot bowl of water for however long it takes for them to soften up. Once they do, slice em' up or whatever and be sure to use the leftover juice. If you are tossing out that juice then you are wasting it.

T · Black Belt Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 108

OK, I'm doing that now Does it matter if they contain sulfites or not ? In some cases, I don't know if they do or not, but some of the labels on the packages indicate that there are sulfites other packages just say "contains dried mushrooms". I bought several bags of dried shiitake mushrooms from one of my favorite Asian markets..

T · Black Belt Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 108

I soaked them in cold water because I didn't want to re-heat the water when reusing the water for the soup. Wasn't sure if I should use warm/hot tap water, so I used my good refridgerated bottled water that I use to make soup and tea with.

How many mushroom heads do you recommend eating per serving. I usually only make soup once a day in the morning and include my mushrooms then. I usually use two regular-sized shiitake heads. Not sure if that's too much or too little. Thanks

T · Black Belt Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 108

Alright, those mushrooms were great. I consumed the water too, however I used cold water every time because it was bottled water from the 'fridge then used to heat up for the soup. I didn't want to use warm/hot tap water, then heat up warm water. Heating cold water is better, I think?

The main point here: I just opened another bag of Chinese Shiitake dried mushrooms that I bought from the Japanese market. Now, this is the one containing sulfites. So, I hope that it still requires the same preparation as the other "regular" Chinese and Japanese dried Shiitake mushrooms not containing sulfites.

T · Black Belt Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 108

The mushrooms are good. I like the DONKO ones too