Let's Cook Shiitake!

Filed in archive Ingredient Spotlight on January 8, 2007

Mine went into this lovely Barley and Mushroom Risotto, but there are many more ways to use shiitake mushrooms. Here are some that caught my eye:

Shiitake, Bok Choy, Shrimp & Chicken Soup from FitFool
Tyler and Amanda's Orgasmic Mac 'n' Cheese
Aidan Brooks' Shiitake and Saffron Risotto

One of our favorite ways to use this is as filling for sushi (simmer it in some dashi, a bit of mirin, sake, sugar first).

If you're looking for something more involved, check out Charlie Trotter's Baby Carrot Terrine with Shiitake Mushroom Salad, Carrot Juice Reduction, dill Oil and 50-Year-Old Balsamic Vinegar in his book .

There's also an entire book dedicated to all the wonderful ways you can cook and eat this mushroom:
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They're good for you, yes, but at the same time they taste good! A tidbit from Harold McGee's Seaweed and the Original MSG, from :

A few years after Ikeda's observations, a colleague of his discovered a different umami substance (inosine monophosphate, or IMP) in cured skipjack tuna, another soup-base ingredient. Then in 1960, Akira Kuninaka reported an umami substance in shiitake mushrooms (guanosine monophosphate, or GMP). Kuninaka also discovered that these different substances were synergistic with each other and with MSG: a very small amount of each strengthens the other's taste. Sensory scientists are still working to understand the nature of these effects.

How healthy are they? Here's a primer from the George Mateljan Foundation.

Would you like to grow your own? You can buy a log at Shiitake Center, already inoculated. Also available through Amazon:


If you need more guidance, a good reference is
Shiitake Growers Handbook: The Art and Science of Mushroom Cultivation