What are Shiitake Mushrooms and How Should You Cook Them?

Shiitake mushrooms have become very popular in this day and age. This edible mushroom that can be found in great abundance in Eastern Asia is known as a medicinal mushroom, and was first documented in 1877 under the scientific name of Agaricus edodes. Despite this face, the Chinese knew and used Shiitake mushrooms as early as the 13thcentury, and books on the cultivation of the mushrooms in Japan have been written since the late 1700s.

The mushrooms are extremely tasty, and as you probably already know, they have been used for food for a very long time. Fresh and dried shiitake mushrooms have a lot of great uses in East Asian cuisine, most times being served in miso soup, sauteed and fried, or added to various vegetarian dishes that are quite popular in places like China, Japan and even parts of southeast Asia.

Shiitake mushrooms are typically not salted when they are cooked. The sodium in the dish is usually provided through various other ingredients like the ones present in the teriyaki sauce that sauteed shiitake mushrooms are usually served with. The stems are removed, and the mushrooms are usually dried first, then sauteed for a total of 8-10 minutes with two tablespoons of water, two tablespoons of olive oil and sometimes oyster sauce replacing the teriyaki sauce in various alternative recipes.