Hello, and welcome! I am so happy to have you here today to talk about shiitake mushroom stir-fry, which is one of the easy shiitake mushroom recipes. This recipe is so nutritious, flavorful, and easy to make for anyone to try.
Introduction to Shiitake Mushroom Recipes
Shiitake mushroom recipes are becoming more and more popular in the world, and many people are searching for them! However, there aren’t so many recipes on the internet yet. So, I want to share many shiitake mushroom recipes on my blog with you all.
As the first recipe, I chose this shiitake mushroom stir-fry as it is a very simple recipe to follow and easy to love. Shiitake mushrooms have been a common food ingredient in East Asian cooking for a long time, so there are many recipes to come! There are not only recipes that have shiitake mushrooms as the main ingredients but also many recipes that include shiitake mushrooms to enhance the flavor of the dish.
Why Shiitake Mushroom?
Many people are looking for shiitake mushroom recipes for countless health benefits and amazing flavor the mushroom has. It is simply incredible how this simple ingredient can be so helpful in our lives. Then let’s go over a few of the wonderful health benefits of shiitake mushrooms.
Health Benefits of Shiitake Mushroom
1. Vitamin D for Better Mood
This sunshine vitamin is essential for the production of serotonin which is a neurotransmitter that regulates mood and sleep. Vitamin D deficiency links to depression and SAD, and some studies have found that vitamin D supplements can improve depressive symptoms, as I explained more in my article Vitamins for Winter Depression, How I Cope with Long Winters.
Instead of getting supplements, how about eating some mushrooms for your vitamin D intake?
This applies to all mushrooms, but did you know that you can increase vitamin D content in mushrooms substantially by laying them under the sun? Yes, that’s right. You can bring your store-bought shiitake mushrooms either dried or fresh and put them by the window so it gets some daylight. Then you can cook and eat them to get the vitamin D that the mushrooms produce.
Let’s cook some shiitake mushrooms and get the sunshine vitamins in our bodies!
2. Nutrient-Packed, Low Calories
Shiitake mushrooms are so meaty and flavorful that many vegan cooks use it as a meat substitute. But many dieters also choose shiitake mushrooms as a meat substitute in the world for their low calories! There are approximately only 34 calories in 100 grams or 3.5 oz of shiitake mushrooms. Eat your shiitake mushrooms as much as you want, because even if you eat 1kg or 35 oz of them(that is a lot), that would only be 340 calories. And it has so many other nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!
3. Improves Immune System
In a randomized dietary intervention study, a daily intake of just two dried shiitake mushrooms improved immunity. Participants showed improved gut immunity and significantly lower inflammation.
The recipe I’m about to share with you includes 10 dried shiitake mushrooms, so you will be superhuman after eating it!
Shiitake Mushroom Tastes
All the health benefits sound great, but not a lot of people are willing to eat something that doesn’t taste good. But shiitake mushrooms have a deep umami flavor with a meaty and chewy texture. Let me elaborate more on why shiitake mushrooms are one of the favorite ingredients among food enthusiasts!
Rich Umami Flavor: Shiitake mushrooms earn their reputation for a strong umami flavor that food lovers describe as savory and meaty. Shiitake mushrooms also have a rich, earthy taste that adds depth and complexity to dishes.
Texture: Shiitake mushrooms have a firm and meaty texture, especially when cooked. Unlike meat that can be overcooked and become hard, shiitake mushrooms hold their meaty texture very well. It even becomes more chewier and meatier when cooked.
Dried shiitake mushrooms are so light and easy to store, too. I always have them in my pantry.
Choose Shiitake Mushrooms
Shiitake mushrooms are not only nutritious with a great source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants but also have a deep rich umami flavor and meaty texture when cooked. No wonder so many vegan cuisines use shiitake mushrooms as a meat substitute!
So today, I will introduce you to one of the easiest shiitake mushroom recipes – the shiitake mushroom stir-fry. Let’s get started!
Shiitake Mushroom Stir Fry | Shiitake Mushroom Recipes
Shiitake Mushroom Stir-Fry Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- If you are using dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrate them in water for 30 minutes. Use hot water if you want to make the rehydration process quicker.
- Cut each shiitake mushroom into four pieces.
- If using rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, squeeze the mushrooms to take the water out.
- Heat a pan to medium heat. Once the pan is heated, pour some sesame oil and cook chopped garlic.
- Thinly slice green onions and chilis. Then stir-fry the onions and chilis together with garlic.
- Then pour the ingredients for soy sauce and date syrup into the pan and mix well.
- Put the shiitake mushrooms inside the pan, and mix well to coat all the shiitake mushrooms with the sauce evenly.
- When everything is well-cooked, finish it off with some toasted sesame seeds and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Tips for Shiitake Mushroom Stir Fry
1. Leave Shiitake Mushroom Under Sunlight for a Day
So I told you you could consume vitamin D from mushrooms you placed under sunlight. The amount of vitamin D can differ a lot depending on the UV light and the duration of the light exposure of the mushrooms. In Norway where I live, the daytime can be very short during winter. So I usually leave the mushrooms out by the window for a whole day to make sure the mushrooms have enough time to get vitamin D in them.
2. Cook with Water First
Shiitake mushroom, like many other mushrooms, absorbs liquid very quickly especially when you are using fresh ones. So if you pour some oil first to cook them, the few mushrooms that hit the oil will absorb all the oil, making the oil disappear right away!
Instead, start cooking fresh shiitake mushrooms with some water and closing the lid. The steam in the pan will cook the mushrooms and they will shrink and become meaty and chewy in texture. Then you can add some oil to continue cooking with other ingredients if you like.
3. Serve with Rice
You can eat however you like, but in East Asia, we love eating rice with shiitake mushroom recipes. This shiitake mushroom stir-fry is a great side dish to have on your dinner table. The unique rich, earthy, savory, meaty flavor of shiitake mushrooms goes so well with some warm bowl of rice.
4. A Hint of Sesame Oil
You can use any cooking oil to cook this shiitake mushroom stir-fry, but the umami shiitake mushroom flavor pairs so well with soy sauce and some toasted sesame oil. It’s one of the signature East Asian cuisine flavors. So although you can use any cooking oil, I hope you try sesame oil with this recipe. You can add just a little bit of toasted sesame oil to give the scent instead of cooking with it. I explained more about sesame oil in my blog post on best sesame oil – tips & top 3 recommendations as a Korean.
Other Shiitake Mushroom Recipes
I will be posting more shiitake mushroom recipes here on my blog. I have many recipes to share as shiitake mushrooms are so widely used in East Asian cooking including Korean. Although these recipes don’t include shiitake mushrooms as main ingredients, here are some recipes that include shiitake mushroom.
Vegan Bulgogi Recipe | Vegan Meat Options, Recipes, and Tips
This is a sweet and savory Korean bulgogi recipe, which is often also used in Korean BBQ. To enhance the sweet and savory soy sauce-based flavor, cooks add shiitake mushrooms to this bulgogi recipe. It’s an iconic Korean dish that is popular everywhere in the world so I wanted to share my vegan recipe with you. Read more to learn about bulgogi and how to make it.
Vegan Japchae-bap Recipe | A Festive Dish from Korea
Shiitake mushrooms are one of the key ingredients in japchae, which is a very festive dish in Korea. For enhanced umami flavor and a great bite of japchae, shiitake mushrooms are essential in this recipe! With lots of colorful vegetables and many textures, this japchae dish is often on Korean festivals like Chuseok and Lunar New Year Seollal.
Final Thoughts on Shiitake Mushroom Stir Fry | Easy Shiitake Mushroom Recipes
I hope you enjoyed this post about shiitake mushroom stir-fry as an introduction to shiitake mushroom recipes. It is a delicious sweet and savory dish to go well with rice or a side dish to accompany a main dish on a dinner table.
And there are so many reasons to eat more shiitake mushrooms. As one of the few natural food sources to get vitamin D content during winter, nutrient-packed food with low calories, with a rich umami flavor with a meaty texture, trying out shiitake mushroom stir-fry is a great way to include this amazing mushroom into your diet. I also hope you try checking out some of the shiitake mushroom recipes I shared with you above! And subscribe to learn more about amazing recipes with shiitake mushrooms in the future. Happy cooking!
Leave a Reply