How to Cook Mushrooms For Your Health

While there are many different types of mushrooms in the marketplace, there are a few that have significant medicinal properties when consumed. Learning how to cook mushrooms in order to preserve these medical qualities is something everyone should know.

This article shall cover how to cook Lion’s Mane, Shiitake, Cordyceps, Morels, and Portabellas mushrooms. If you are looking for a great source in general on how to cook mushrooms, we’d recommend reading: The Mushroom Book.

Lion’s Mane

The Lion’s Mane or Hericium Erinaceus is one of the most interesting looking mushrooms on the planet. Aside from it being just a visual treat, the Lion’s Mane has incredible medicinal value for the human body to treat things like Alzheimer’s, cancer, and cognitive impairments.

How to Cook Lion’s Mane Mushrooms

While many choose to gain the benefits of Lion’s Mane through supplementation, cooking it is a great way to also attain its medicinal value. This particular mushroom looks like a blonde shaggy dog. It also has seafood-like flavor comparable to lobster or shrimp, so keep this in mind when preparing to mix in a dish with other ingredients.

As a general practice for most edible mushrooms, the Lion’s Mane should be cooked slowly over a long period of time for best results. Due to it being tough and watery, this mushroom should take a longer period to cook in order to reach a chewy texture.

To begin the cooking process, take a sauce pan and place it on the stove on medium heat with a little olive oil. Add in the mushrooms, place a cover on the pan, and begin cooking till they begin to turn golden brown.

Once the tentacles begin to turn gold then add butter and select seafood spices in order to reach your desired flavor.  The goal is to get a crispy texture on the outside while keeping a chewy inside for the mushroom.

Shiitake

The Shiitake mushroom is entrenched within many traditional Japanese dishes and has a wide variety of uses across many cultures. It has a rich, savory, and distinct flavor making it something that has to be tasted to appreciate. The Shiitake offers a medicinal value for the body to help increase blood flow and assists in improving skin complexion.

How to Cook Shiitake Mushrooms

When sourcing Shiitake mushrooms, you’ll first either want to choose between buying them fresh or dried. The dried version is best for sauces and soups, whereas the fresh are perfect alone or as an addition to your favorite dish.

Assuming you are using fresh Shiitake mushrooms, you’ll first want to prep them properly before attempting to cook them. Remove the stems and quickly run them under running water. Then wipe them with a damp, clean cloth or paper towel and follow the steps below:

1. Place olive oil in sauce pan over medium heat
2. Add in the Shiitake mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes until they reach a golden brown color
3. Add water but don’t submerge them. Cook till water evaporates and fry for another 2-3 minutes
4. Add your favorite sauce or spices and blend for a few minutes then serve

Now that you know how to cook Shiitake mushrooms, you can add them to your favorite dishes.

Cordyceps

The Cordyceps mushroom is a very powerful medicinal mushroom that has incredible healing properties for the human body. It can help promote stamina, increased energy, and boost your immune system. It’s also helpful with anti-aging and sexual performance.

How to Cook Cordyceps Mushrooms

There are basically 2 methods for learning how to cook Cordyceps mushrooms: Soups or Stir-fry.  You will find the basics for cooking them both ways below.

For making soups using Cordyceps, it’s best to use soup pots on a stove. Ingredients may differ depending on how you prefer the flavor of your soups, but a basic foundation would be:

• 50-75 grams of Cordyceps mushrooms
• 1 chicken breast or thigh or pork or tofu for vegetarians
• Lentils or beans (white, black, or kidney)
• 30-40 ounces of water depending if parboiling (meat) is required
• Choice of spices, salt and pepper

The prep time should only take 10 or so minutes. This should be cooked at medium to high heat on stovetop for a minimum of 1.5 hours or so.  The finished soup should feed a serving of 2 people.

The stir-fry method for cooking Cordyceps mushrooms is much quicker than making it in a soup.  The basic foundation for cooking a stir-fry is using a frying pan or wok on a stovetop or alternative heating source.

The ingredients will vary depending on how you like your stir-fry flavor, but the basics are below:

• 5-6 ounces of Cordyceps mushrooms
• Chunks of chicken breast or thigh or tofu (3 blocks) for vegetarians
• 2-3 green or red peppers
• 1 onion sliced the long way
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Stir-fry sauce is recommended

Prepping this should only take 10-15 minutes and it should cook around the same timeframe. The final dish should feel 2 to 3 people. Learning how to cook Cordyceps mushrooms will add a nice utility to your weekly dishes at home.

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Morels

Like other types of mushrooms, Morels can be sourced in both fresh and dried form. In dried form, they’re best cooked with soups or sauces.  Morels also offer high medicinal value with their robust levels of essential minerals and antioxidants.

For those looking to eat them as a side dish or stand alone, the fresh form of Morels should be sourced.

How to Cook Morel Mushrooms

Morels, when cooked properly, can be a wonderful and tasty dish. However, there needs to be special attention to the preparation and sourcing process with this type of mushroom..

When buying fresh Morels, you need to be vigilant on not choosing rotted ones. Stay away from those being shriveled, wet, soft, or spongy. The larger the better but often the larger, older ones tend to have the most rot.

Another important factor to watch out for in sourcing fresh Morels is the presence of insects or worms. You can remove any that were not easily visible upon purchase using a dry pastry brush before cooking.

Once you’re ready to cook them you’ll want to slice them the long way. If needed, due to some morels being particularly large, you may want to even quarter them. This will cut down some of the time during the cooking process.

Start with a sauce pan and some olive oil and cook them on high heat in order to brown them. While some may opt for butter to substitute the oil, it should be pointed out that it will end up burning in the pan before the Morel is properly cooked. So if you need to add butter, add it later during the cooking process.

Here are the basic ingredients for cooking Morel mushrooms:

• 3-5 ounces of Morel mushrooms
• Olive oil during the browning process
• Add butter following the browning process
• Add garlic, onion, and chives
• Add a touch of soy sauce
• Add a little salt and pepper
• Add tough of lemon

They can be served over rice or pasta of your choice or even as a standalone dish.  While learning how to cook Morel mushrooms may be a little tricky, the flavor they offer is well worth the time.

Portabellas

The Portabellas mushroom is one of the most widely used mushroom for cooking and it can be found at basically any grocery store. Since they’re overflowing with essential vitamins and minerals, the Portabellas have great medicinal value for our body.

Unlike the other mushrooms mentioned here, Portabellas are easy to cook and can be applied to basically any dish you want to make. So instead of showing you exactly how to cook Portabellas mushrooms, you will learn some different options to include them with for dinner.

Here are some recommended applications for Portabellas:

• Grill with butter and herbs as steaks
• Slice thinly with BBQ sauce and liquid smoke for bacon
• Cut into chunks for stir-fry
• Cut into chunks to add flavor to soups
• Add them to any casserole dish

Cooking Portabellas will make any dish more savory and you’ll be living a healthier lifestyle.

Conclusion

The more traditional white mushrooms are a great addition to any meal, but the abovementioned mushrooms have a unique flavor and medicinal value to take your lifestyle to healthier level.  Plus, learning how to cook mushrooms is a fun process.