Shimeji
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shimeji or Hon-shimeji or " Buna Shimeji" is an edible Japanese mushroom.
Cultivated all year long, they can be bought any time of the year. Shimeji is used in soups, nabe and takikomi gohan.
There are two forms of Shimeji mushrooms:
- Buna-shimeji, known in English as the Brown Beech or Brown Clamshell Mushroom;
- Bunapi-shimeji, known in English as the White Beech or White Clamshell Mushroom;
Both forms are strains of the same species, Hypsizygus tessulatus, also called Hypsizygus marmoreus.
[edit] Cooking
The Shimeji should always be cooked, it is not a good mushroom to serve raw. When raw this mushroom has a somewhat bitter taste; the bittereness disappears completely upon cooking. The cooked mushroom has a pleasant, firm, slightly crunchy texture and a delicious slightly nutty flavor. Cooking also makes this mushroom easier to digest. In stir-fried foods, as well as with wild game or seafood it is a good mushroom. Also it can be used in soups, stews and in sauces. When cooked alone, Shimeji mushrooms can be sautéed as a whole, including the stem or stalk (only the very end cut off), using a higher temperature or they can be slow roasted on a low temperature with a small amount of butter or cooking oil.
