Features of cooking mushrooms
Mushroom boiling is considered to be the simplest type of processing of this forest product. How much time you need to spend on the procedure depends on the type of mushrooms. They are supposed to be boiled not only to get a tasty dish, but also to cleanse food of harmful substances.
Features of cooking mushrooms
Preparation for cooking
Mushrooms often contain compounds that are hazardous to health. able to absorb them from the external environment.
That is why the first mushroom broth must be drained and then boiled in new water. Thanks to this procedure, forest gifts can be cleaned of insects, bacteria and other things. Sometimes parts of fruit bodies that have not been cooked taste bitter. That is why heat treatment is required even for ordinary rowers, chanterelles, champignons, especially if they are bitter.
Before boiling fresh gifts, they are prepared:
- distributed into groups (type, size);
- clean and wash;
- cut off damage, dark spots.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
It is customary to process the harvested mushrooms on the day of harvest. To get rid of the worms, they are immersed in highly salted water for 2-3 hours, and then washed.
Mushrooms are cleaned depending on the species. So, in whites and stubs, the skin is cut off from the legs and washed thoroughly. For oil, the film must be removed from the cap and the legs are cleaned. In old mushrooms, the spore-bearing layer (spongy mass from the bottom of the cap) is removed.
The peeled mushrooms must be cooked immediately because they tend to absorb foreign odors very quickly. If you need to wait a little while cooking, then it is better to keep them in cold salted and acidified water: take 1 tsp for 1 liter of water. salt and 2 g of citric acid. This protects the product from browning.
All of the above is done on the day of food collection, immediately upon returning from the forest.
If you plan to cook the food next time, it is best to keep it in the refrigerator. In this case, they are not washed, but only the adhering dirt is carefully removed.
Cooking fresh food
Boiling fresh mushrooms takes a maximum of 22 minutes.
Fresh food is cut into pieces and poured with cool water, adding salt to it. When cooking, most of the nutrients go into the liquid. Cooking process:
- To boil any mushrooms, a little water is poured, it should cover the product. Its level should be equal to the level of the mushrooms in the pan.
- Then they put them on the stove, it is recommended to use such a device as a mushroom cooker (but if you do not harvest mushrooms on an "industrial" scale, you can do it with a saucepan).
- They wait for the liquid to boil and remove the foam, or, as they often say, “noise”.
How long it takes to cook depends on the size of the pieces. Food should not be allowed to darken. To do this, they need pre-processing. Before boiling, they should be rinsed in vinegar or lemon juice. The precautions are as follows:
- To check if a poisonous specimen has been caught, a special ingredient is added to the broth. It is worth using an onion.
- If the bulb turns blue, there are poisonous mushrooms.
- The first broth must be drained, and then the mushroom broth must be boiled again.
Cooking dried and frozen foods
Dried mushrooms are important to cook properly
In winter, they use frozen or dry foods. When thawing the former, water remains. It is drained, and the pieces are washed again. Then they are transferred to a container with cool water. It takes only 25-32 minutes to boil them.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
Some people, after soaking dry mushrooms, drain the water, and some continue to use it for further cooking. The second option is preferable because along with the infusion, partly the mushroom taste and aroma will disappear. However, before use, you still need to evaluate the infusion: if needles, leaves float in it after poor-quality drying, and sand has settled at the bottom, it is better to drain it and cook the mushrooms fresh. You can always strain the infusion though.
For your information. The soup is not boiled in dark mushroom infusion.
If dried foods are not properly prepared, they will remain solid even after heat treatment. First, they need to be kept in cool water for about 3.5-4 hours and only then boiled. The peculiarity of preparing mushroom broth from dry products is that the liquid is not removed after soaking. It is used to boil mushrooms. It will take about 2 hours. The cooked pieces will be ready to eat when they sink to the bottom.
Cooking time for some varieties
Features and time of heat treatment depend on the type of product:
White mushrooms
Porcini mushrooms, if cooked correctly, are a real masterpiece. Before baking or frying food, it is supposed to be brewed. Enough 25 minutes. After that, it is allowed to add additional components of the dish. Ceps should not be overcooked. Because of this, they will become too elastic - rubber. To make the scent even more pleasant, add bay leaves (this will work for honey agarics as well). Attention! When boiling these mushrooms, it is very important to remove all the "noise" in time.
Honey mushrooms
Honey mushrooms are usually used for pickling. They must first be boiled. The time taken is only 18 minutes. If they are small, then everything will be ready faster. Advice. Decoction from frozen mushrooms can be used for broth or sauce.
Champignon
Champignons are eaten even raw (if fresh), but it is better to brew mushroom broth. After processing, they will become softer, their taste will be even richer. It usually only takes 5-10 minutes to just boil them. It takes only 20 minutes to make the soup.
Butterlets
There is too much moisture in the oils. If you soak them, then the mucus will be even more. That is why they are supposed to be dried first. This will take approximately 30 minutes. After that, you will have to boil the mushrooms in salt water, using the same amount of time. Be sure to remove the skin from the cap so that it does not spoil the dish.
Chanterelles
You need to cook the chanterelles on low heat for no more than half an hour. It is impossible longer, because they will lose nutrients. By the way. If you boil dried chanterelles, add a pinch of baking soda to them - then they will boil better.
Oyster mushrooms
Cooking time for oyster mushrooms is only 5-10 minutes. After that, they are fried, soup and other dishes are prepared from them. You can boil such mushrooms when cooking soup with potatoes. If the mushrooms are finely chopped, then it will be enough for them to boil twice, after which they will be ready. If you boil whole oyster mushrooms or cut into large pieces, the cooking time may take 25 minutes.
Conclusion
The described processing is carried out not only for cooking, but also for eliminating toxins from products. The cooking time of the mushrooms depends on their condition (fresh, dry or frozen), as well as on the variety.
To prevent mushrooms from losing their taste and aroma during cooking, cook them exclusively over medium heat.
If mushrooms are boiled for frying, they must be boiled in salted water. Then rinse and discard in a colander.
To prevent pre-peeled boletus legs from darkening during cooking, they do not need to be cut.
They just don't use boiled mushrooms. Such processing is necessary for further pickling and salting. The liquid is suitable for mushroom broth.
