Dried Mushrooms

I never knew there was such a think as dried mushrooms. I don't like mushrooms because of their texture but the dried button mushrooms I had ona winery platter were a revelation.

Crispy and crunchy, like crisps (potato chips in American) I just couldn't stop crunching them.

Now I expect you'll tell me they are commonplace, but I've never heard of or seen them before.

[Jenise]

Haven't tried one, but someone's making them commercially. It's a low-carb snack resulting from the popularity of the keto diet.

Dried mushrooms--most typically shiitake--are a common ingredient in Chinese cooking. But they're always reconstituted by soaking them in warm or hot water. Reconstituted dried shiitake and fresh shiitake have considerably different flavor profiles (just as dried ginger vs. fresh ginger) and aren't interchangeable in recipes.

This is the first I've heard of dried button mushrooms, and of eating them in the dried state.

-Paul W.

Yes, we've always had dried shiitakes, morels, cremini in pantry (and sometimes the other Chinese ones-woods ear?) but never seen as a snack to eat directly.

[Jenise]

Dried mushrooms--most typically shiitake--are a common ingredient in Chinese cooking. -Paul W.

Dried from raw for cooking and fried/dried/salted for snacking as Peter experienced are two very different things. Here, I've only seen shitakes done that way.

[Robin Garr]

Here's a review of the Costco brand in Eating Well ...

https://www.eatingwell.com/article/7822 ... arb-snack/

[Robin Garr]

Here's a review of the Costco brand in Eating Well ...

https://www.eatingwell.com/article/7822 ... arb-snack/

Everything I could find in a quick search used shiitakes, though, not button mushrooms.

[Robin Garr]

Okay, this brand sold at Target looks like they might be button mushrooms.
https://www.target.com/p/rhythm-superfo ... oup=211-11

We have a half dozen different dried mushrooms at our local store - morels, oyster, lobster, black trumpet, porcini, shiitake as well as six or seven varieties of fresh. As was mentioned, the dried give a completely different flavour than fresh - super umami hit.

I have never seen the crisps.

I've had the Costco snacking ones. Crispy, seasoned with a bit of sugar in addition to other savory seasonings. Quite tasty and addictive. Just picked up the other kind of dried mushrooms from Costco that are used in cooking. From The Wild Mushroom Co. Dried Gourmet Mix Mushrooms it is a large package, 12 oz of Yellow Boletus, Portobello, Oyster, Porcini sourced from Poland, Serbia, Romania, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Chile, Peru, Bosnia, Hungary ! These require rehydrating but they can also be grated or processed to a dust for incorporation into say pasta doughs. I have not yet tried this particular product but I am anticipating using them along with fresh ones for a mushroom ragu or in a ravioli filling to amp the umami. I always have dried porcini and shiitake in the pantry.

and sometimes the other Chinese ones-woods ear?

Wood ear (dark colored) and cloud ear (light colored). They are edible species of the shelf fungus often seen growing on the sides of trees. I've seen fresh wood ears a couple of times, but most commonly they're sold dried and you reconstitute them in very hot water before using. Wood ears are one of the traditional ingredients in Chinese hot-and-sour soup and in mu xu rou (moo shu or moo shi pork). Cloud ears are mainly used in sweet dessert soups.

-Paul W.

I used the Costco mixed dried mushrooms from France last night for a ragu for pasta. I am used to rehydrating porcini which happens fairly quickly in warm water. These remained unpleasantly firm after at least 30 min and further cooking with shallots, garlic and fresh mushrooms did not fully soften. Nothing wrong with the flavor. My friend also bought a box and tried to make mushroom dust for a recipe. Her Cuisinart food processor balked when they got stuck on the blade and did not disintegrate! For the next use I will use hotter water and soak longer.

I used the Costco mixed dried mushrooms from France last night for a ragu for pasta. I am used to rehydrating porcini which happens fairly quickly in warm water. These remained unpleasantly firm after at least 30 min and further cooking with shallots, garlic and fresh mushrooms did not fully soften. Nothing wrong with the flavor. My friend also bought a box and tried to make mushroom dust for a recipe. Her Cuisinart food processor balked when they got stuck on the blade and did not disintegrate! For the next use I will use hotter water and soak longer.

That's what I would do. Some mushrooms are denser.