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KR
 
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Default fresh shiitake recipes? All cuisines

Hi DC,

I started with one of the dowel kits, this is where instead of buying
a small innoculated log you instead start with a bag of dowel plugs
that have been innoculated with shiitake spawn... then you drill holes
in a fresh oak log of your own and pound the plugs in. I started it
roughly two years ago this spring. The log is approx. 3 feet long and
8-10 inches in diameter, some kind of red oak from a large tree that
blew over in a woody area near my parents' house... the kit provided
many more plugs than I needed for a personal log, so I/we (I enlisted
the parents) drove a lot of them into the original tree and left it
where it lay. I hear that it has been mushrooming somewhat but
no-one's really monitoring it. This is all taking place in zone 5,
shiitake definitely proving to be more cold hardy than I had hoped.

None of the mushrooms so far have had the cracked caps you mention,
which I've seen on dried Chinese shiitake. I don't know if this is due
to climactic conditions, growing conditions or whether it is a
different strain of mushroom. So far the mushrooms I've picked have
been very mild, even at their bloated peak of maximum development (5-6
inches diameter). I haven't tried drying any. Someone else I know has
had a fantastic experience with one of the sawdust-block ready-to-go
kits, lots of productivity and easy to take care of, but again, mild
flavour.

Best - krnntp

"DC." > wrote in message >...
> I don't often have fresh shitake, preferring the dried ones as they're
> stronger in taste/flavour as do many dried mushroms but maybe something
> simple & not too dependent on strong sauces so you can enjoy the full
> flavour of a fresh shitake mushroom. Maybe adapt a Italian mushroom risotto
> recipe. If you want to keep it Asian/Chinese there's a old classic using
> larger shitakes. There's many versions of this dish but simply make up a
> marinated mince pork mixture & fill the underside cap & braise in a pot. You
> can use the rest of the marinating ingredients to make up a sauce for it
> after & thicken the sauce to pour over it.
>
> If i had an abundance of fresh shitake mushrooms, i'd eat the smaller &
> darker ones & dry the larger & whiter ones for later. The general rule for
> choosing quality Chinese shitake is as follows. The smaller, darker caps
> with pale brown/baige coloured gills are the lowest in quality because they
> are young & not matured shitakes, OK for eating fresh but when dried, do not
> yield too much flavour. The larger ones are better & have more flavour. The
> most expensive ones are the ones with it's cap looking a little like
> tortoise shell, i.e. with broken white streaks across it & the bottom/gills
> are also white in colour. They are not as dark as the smaller & younger ones
> but instead pale brown in colour. These are also chunky & thick. When using
> dried, a few pieces of these rehydrated will go a long way in providing
> flavour esp. when you slice them up into smaller pieces. A Chinese New Year
> extravagance would be to rehydrate 8 or more pieces(depending on how many
> are eating, 8 being a lucky number) & braising it with oyster sauce or with
> abalones or with black moss or a combination of all of them. The texture is
> silky smooth & supple enough to bite through & tasting slightly of the 'sea'
> with the premium oyster sauce & abalones.
>
> I've seen these shitake logs for sale but never bought one, can you advise
> on the quality of the mushroom crop & more importantly, have you tried
> drying them & do they taste anything like the premium dried ones from China?
> Thanks.
>
> DC.
>
>
>
>
> "KR" > wrote in message
> m...
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > it's the second spring for my shiitake log and it is starting to ramp
> > up its shiitake production. I'm looking for your suggestions for
> > outstanding fresh-shiitake-centric recipes, from any cuisine, that
> > will help me to weather the coming storm. :-)
> >
> > I may resort to adding shiitake in place of the fresh mushroom of
> > record in any or every mushroom dish, but would prefer to find
> > combinations that work especially well with shiitake in particular.
> > Surprises - Thai, for example - would be very welcome.
> >
> > Thanks!
> > KR / krnntp (ducks runaway log)