fbpx

5 Popular Mushrooms in Asian Cooking (And Their Uses)
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Are you confused when it comes to cooking various types of mushrooms?

Popular Mushrooms in Asian Cuisine

Mushrooms are plentiful, they are everywhere and have been crowned with new titles of “superfoods” and “functional foods” lately. They are perceived to deliver all sorts of health benefits, including the boosting of immunity.

As a dietitian, I am most interested in everything mushroom. The benefits are amazing and I personally consume mushrooms for both their taste and health benefits. As a matter of fact, I was interviewed for an article written by Renée S. Suen and titled “Why Are There Suddenly Mushrooms In Everything?” for Chatelaine magazine last year. You can read the article at the following link: Why Are There Suddenly Mushrooms In Everything

Instead of consuming mushrooms as an expensive oral supplement, I love cooking with mushrooms and include them in everyday preparations of soups, stews, and stir fry dishes and for hotpot.

To learn about different types of mushrooms, their nutritional values and how to cook mushrooms, please read on. We have also featured a delicious and nutritious Asian-inspired Braised Chicken with Shiitake Mushrooms and Mountain Yam Recipe, developed by “Cooking with 3C!”

Types of asian mushrooms

👨‍🍳👩‍🍳Shiitake mushrooms usually come dried and appear cracked. Deeper fissures and whole mushrooms with larger caps tend to have more flavour so look for those when you’re shopping. Try using them in curries, soups, or sauté them along with other vegetables!

👨‍🍳👩‍🍳Wood ear fungus also known as cloud ear mushrooms are black, thin, wrinkled mushrooms with a soft and smooth texture. They are a high source of fibre and contain many antioxidants, iron, protein, and vitamins B1 and B2.

👨‍🍳👩‍🍳Enoki mushrooms are long, skinny, white, and bunched together. They typically have a soft, chewy texture and are a highly versatile ingredient for cooking.

👨‍🍳👩‍🍳Oyster mushrooms are large, fan-shaped mushrooms with white flesh and a grey, brown exterior. They have a meaty texture when compared to other mushrooms but can also be soft textured. Try searching for canned oyster mushrooms when the fresh variety is unavailable.

👨‍🍳👩‍🍳White button mushrooms are probably what you think of when someone mentions mushrooms, they are stout, round, and white hence the name white button mushroom. Although you can eat them raw, cooking them brings out their full fragrance. Try white button mushrooms sautéed, in salads, or soups!

Nutritional value of mushrooms and ideas for use!

🍴Shiitake Mushrooms

  • High in Vitamin B5, manganese, and Niacin
  • Mainly soups, but also curries or vegetable sautés.

🍴Wood ear fungus Mushrooms

  • May help lower cholesterol and promote gut/immune health
  • Stir fry, salad, or soups

🍴Enoki Mushrooms

  • High in vitamin B and fiber
  • Soups, but also stir-fried with sauce

🍴Oyster Mushrooms

  • High in fibre, low in carbs
  • Particularly high in niacin

🍴Button Mushrooms

  • High in potassium and phosphorus
  • Toast, soup, pasta, and stir fry

How to cook mushrooms

🍳Shiitake Mushrooms

  • Deeper fissures and whole mushrooms with larger caps tend to have more flavour
  • Water used to soak shiitake mushrooms has a lot of flavour and can be used as broth for more taste

🍳Wood Ear Mushrooms

  • Soak dried wood ear mushrooms for 2 hours in cold water then 15-20 minutes in warm water for best preparation
  • When storing dried wood ear, an airtight container placed in a cool dry place is best. Rehydrated wood ear can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

🍳Enoki Mushrooms

  • Look for enoki mushrooms which are firm and white

🍳Oyster Mushrooms

  • Slice the bottom stem to separate the mushrooms and begin cooking
  • There are a variety of different oyster mushrooms that can be good for different recipes; for example, king oysters are the largest and have a meaty texture

🍳White Button Mushrooms

  • Fresh mushrooms only last 3-4 days, try freezing, canning, or drying to extend shelf life without affecting the nutritional value
  • The freshest mushrooms are firm and supple. Avoid slimy, damp, wrinkled, or spongy mushrooms.

Consider giving this delicious mushroom recipe a try!:

Braised Chicken with Shiitake Mushrooms and Mountain Yam Recipe

(Recipe developed by Cook with 3C (Dr. Jennifer Gao, Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor, Chef Jason He, a Chinese Cuisine and Herbal Chef, Amy Yiu, Registered Dietitian)

Servings: 4

Preparation time: 45 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

 

Ingredients:

  • Chicken (whole, chicken breast or thighs) Half (200g)
  • Dried Shiitake mushrooms 50g
  • Mountain yam (fresh)* 100 g

 Seasoning:

  • Garlic 3-4 cloves
  • Ginger 1 peeled and sliced (1 inch wide and ¼ inch thick)
  • Shallots 3 pieces
  • Parsley 2 stalks
  • Water ¼ cup
  • Oyster sauce 2 tbsp
  • Low-sodium light soy sauce 1 tbsp
Braised Chicken with Shiitake Mushrooms and Mountain Yam Recipe

 

  • Dark soy sauce 1 tsp
  • Cooking wine (Shaoxing wine**)1 tsp
  • Cornstarch 1 tsp
  • Sesame oil ¼ tsp
  • Salt ¼ tsp
  • Sugar ¼ tsp

Directions:

  1. Pre-soak shiitake mushrooms in room-temperature water (for 45 mins or in the fridge overnight).
  2. Drain and cut shiitake mushrooms in half. Set aside.
  3. Cut garlic and ginger into small pieces. Chop shallots.
  4. Wash and cut chicken (or chicken breast/thighs) into pieces.
  5. Marinate the chicken with light soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and salt.
  6. Blanch fresh mountain yam in boiling water for 1-2 mins.
  7. Heat oil in a pot or frying pan. Add garlic, ginger, shallots, and shiitake mushroom. Stir-fry well until fragrant.
  8. Add chicken and 1 tsp cooking wine (Shaoxing wine). Add ¼ cup of water or chicken broth and cover the pot/pan. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
  9. Season with oyster sauce, sugar, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce.
  10. Use Cornstarch water*** to thicken the sauce. Season with sesame oil.
  11. Decorate with 2 parsley stalks. Serve and enjoy!

*Fresh mountain yam can be found in the produce section of Asian supermarkets

** Cooking wine (Shaoxing wine) can be found in the dry goods aisles in Asian supermarkets

*** Mix 1 tsp of cornstarch with 1 to 2 tbsp of water to make cornstarch water

Part of the content researched and drafted by Matthew Wan of Libra Nutrition. For more Asian inspired or East Meets West recipes and cooking videos, please visit Libra Nutrition Recipes

 

There you have it! A simple guide on different types of mushrooms in asian cooking, their uses, nutritional values, how to cook mushrooms and to finish it off, the delicious and nutritious Braised Chicken with Shiitake Mushrooms and Mountain Yam recipe. If you tried the recipe or found this guide useful, please leave a comment below!

 

Looking for more information on Asian cuisine or dietitian nutrition counselling?

Our Calgary dietitian and online nutritionist services do everything we can to help you move towards your personal best weight and a sustainable lifestyle. You won’t find any weird fad diets, unnecessary food restrictions and anyone trying to sell you shakes, supplements or so-called miracle cures here.

As trained Registered Dietitians, you can count on us for credible advice and practical meal planning so you don’t have to stress about food anymore. You can achieve a healthy and joyous relationship with food and your body. Let’s talk about what this can look like for you.

Learn more about Healthy Eating Tips, Food Recipes and more:

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

As seen in

  •  

Success stories

"I am a psychologist in private practice and it is very important to me that my clients have the best care with other health care professionals. For that reason Health Stand Nutrition is my only source for exceptional Dietitians. Andrea and her team provide highly knowledgeable, compassionate, and real world support to my clients who require assistance with food lifestyle. I trust my clients to them and you would be in excellent hands making them part of your health care team."
Adele Fox, Psychologist
“This is the first time I feel satisfied; my cravings have diminished dramatically and I have a whole new relationship with food. I am eating guilt-free for the first time in my life. My energy has also dramatically increased and I feel great!
Rhonda Jenkins, Nutrition Counseling Client
“The Dieticians at Health Stand Nutrition help you to take action on the science behind eating well by making it practical, understandable, and fun. Their office is cozy and not at all clinical or intimidating. I felt like I was sitting down with a really smart, caring friend who wanted to help me make the best choices for my lifestyle and food preferences. They really are the best in the business.”
Marty Avery, Nutrition Counseling Client
“I have come to think of the program as a one stop shopping excursion for everything one needs to know about creating a joyous relationship with food and our bodies. In a single word, the course has gifted me with freedom from the punishing rigidity of disordered eating, old stories that never were true, and body dysmorphia that did nothing but make me lose sight of a body that has done everything I've asked, despite my careless dismissal of her needs. Now when I look in the mirror I find myself shifting from harsh criticism to gentle gratitude.”
Lynn Haley, Pursuit of Healthiness Online Course Participant
“I spent 3 hours when first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I learned more from my Dietitian about food in those 3 hours than I had learned in all the years of my life. I also love the newsletter, there is always something to learn.”
Peter Whitehead, Nutrition Counseling Client
“I didn’t realize how strong my “diet mentality” was, and all the rules I had in my head about food. I was in a cycle of reward/punish/binge/cringe. I booked with your business very reluctantly, on the repeated advice of my doctor, to get my slowly rising cholesterol levels in check. I thought I knew everything about food, and my behaviour with food, but I was definitely re-schooled. My weight is creeping down, I feel good about my diet, exercise, body image, and lifestyle.”
Amy Floyd, Nutrition Counseling Client
“Thanks Andrea for an amazing presentation, I have heard all positive remarks from attendees and the evaluations show the same sentiment. It is really gratifying when a speaker does their “homework” and weaves in our profession’s day to day challenges within their content, you did an awesome job of this! You truly took the “die” out of Dietician! Your information on healthy eating and simplifying how we can work towards this as we are all so busy really hit the mark. Andrea connects very well with her audience; she is energetic, funny, and very approachable.”
Carole Ann LaGrange, Transfusion Medicine Safety Officer

Event Planner for Laboratory Diagnostic Imaging Annual Event

I am a family physician who sees patients with a myriad of eating concerns – from wanting to know how to plan healthy meals for active families, to weight loss, to eating disorders, and so on. I cannot recommend the Health Stand team highly enough. I have worked with (and been to!) other Dieticians in the past and too often find that they just ask for food logs and make suggestions that are easily obtained online or in books. The Dieticians at Health Stand offer much more than just telling clients what they “should be eating.” In contrast, the team really does more of a counselling practice, and they work hard to help their clients learn more about why their eating habits may be off track and not optimal for them, as well as helping people to effect change at a deep level that, most importantly, is sustainable for lifetime health.”
Dr. Deb Putnam, Family Physician

Nutrition Counseling Client & Referring Physician

“I am a busy mom, with kids in high level sports, working full-time downtown, and running our home acreage outside the City. I now have the knowledge and tools I need to plan for and manage the chaos of meal planning.”
Gillian Gray, Pursuit of Healthiness Online Course Participant
“As a construction company, we select speakers who can relate to our industry and its employees. Andrea’s message was delivered with humor and empathy. She makes people feel as though they can make changes without leaving behind every favorite food. Andrea focused her presentation on healthy eating as a way to keep energy high throughout the day. This message and the way it was delivered resonated with our predominantly male, blue collar culture. I would highly recommend Andrea as a speaker for groups such as ours. She will get your message across without alienating anyone in your audience – which is a huge hurdle when trying to introduce a wellness program in the workplace!”
Stephanie Wood, HR and Safety Manager

Fisher Construction Group, Burlington, WA

I found my Dietitian warm, funny, and skilled at teaching nutrition concepts without the overwhelm. The general approach of each session was to mix science with emotion, which was exceedingly effective in helping me shift my perspective on food from one of anxiety to one of joy and curiosity.”
Erin Kronstedt, Nutrition Counseling Client
“Excellent presentation! What a refreshing change to have a speaker inspire rather than “lecture” about nutrition. Your captivating stories, tips and overall approach to healthy eating uplifts and puts people at ease. It was great to hear we don’t need to strive to be perfect eaters, and that small changes really can make a difference in how we feel and in our health. Thanks to Andrea, we have solutions to our everyday nutrition challenges that can actually work in real life!”
Tina Tamagi, Human Resources

ARC Resources Ltd.

“Had I not joined this course I would have struggled with no focus, low energy, and mindless eating. Excellent teaching and motivation. This is not just a course, it is a nutrition club with mentorship, support, and connections with other people with similar situations.”
Lorri Lawrence, Pursuit of Healthiness online course participant

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This