It is great in stir-fries, braised dishes and soups.
I especially love adding it into chicken recipes that call for smooth thick soy sauce gravy.
To use canned straw mushrooms, drain and discard the water that comes with it. Rinse well.
I usually remove the water that is contained inside the mushroom itself. I find that it interferes with the taste of the overall cooked dish. Imagine biting into a whole mushroom... a gush of weird tasting liquid fills your mouth, diluting the flavour you worked so hard to perfect - just demonstrating how I feel about it.
So, this is what I usually do to remove it:
Slice the mushrooms in half and rinse again. Or if you intend to cook the mushrooms whole, use a toothpick to poke a hole in it. Then, gently squeeze while rinsing to remove the water inside.
If you're not using all the mushrooms, store it in fresh water, in the refrigerator. It'll last for a couple of days or more. I don't recommend keeping it for too long.
They look like little pebbles :) I love seeing what weird and wonderfuls you put in your belly, Sharon ;-)
ReplyDeleteCuriosity drives me, Abbe ... *cough* ;)
DeleteHah! DOWN GIRL! ;-) x
DeleteI always keep a jar of these on hand. But I still prefer fresh!
ReplyDeleteFresh is best. Sadly, I've never seen fresh ones here. Perhaps I haven't been looking hard enough! ^.^
DeleteI haven't used these but now that I've read your post, I'll check out the supermarket on my next trip!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited just thinking about what you'll cook with it. You always have something interesting! ^.^
DeleteNever heard of these.. they look cute.. Will try and see if I can get them here.. Do visit my blog.. http://kitchenserenity.blogspot.in/
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by, Nilu. What a lovely blog you have :)
Deleteyeah at first i thought they are pebbles.
ReplyDeleteUnique, isn't it ^.^
DeleteI've eaten lots of straw mushrooms growing up but never cooked with them. They can be mean little things when they hold liquid inside though. Sometimes when you bite into them, hot liquid bursts out.
ReplyDeleteI bet there could be an interesting way to use this characteristic to your advantage. Not with hot liquid of course, but with room temp or cold. Maybe inject a little sauce inside each?
I've never seen them fresh. Makes me wonder if they can be bought fresh?
Aye. I wonder about the same too. Injecting sauce into each sounds very exciting. I may just attempt it one day for curiosity sake. Thanks for the tip, Genie ^.^
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