My straightforward Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms (Fukumeni) are cooked and soaked in a seasoned broth to soak up the scrumptious savory-sweet flavors. Bursting with umami, it’s a easy make-ahead aspect dish and sushello roll filling that tastes even higher the following day.
A number of the most scrumptious dishes in Japanese delicacies are surprisingly easy to make. That’s undoubtedly true of Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms, the recipe that I’m sharing at present. Ready utilizing the Japanese fukumeni cooking technique, it packs a double punch of umami with dried shiitake mushrooms and dashi (Japanese soup inventory) as the principle substances. I’ll present you the way straightforward it’s to make!
Should you’re craving extra shiitake mushroom recipes, strive my Japanese Mushroom Rice, Miso Butter Mushrooms in Foil, and Heat Mushroom Salad with Sesame Dressing subsequent!
What’s Fukumeni?
Fukumeni (含め煮, additionally fukume-ni) is a Japanese cooking approach by which we slowly simmer hearty vegetarian substances in loads of evenly seasoned dashi broth and depart it to absorb the savory-sweet flavors because it cools. It tastes even higher the following day because it steeps within the fridge within the scrumptious broth. It’s an excellent technique for infusing taste into each dried and contemporary substances like greens, mushrooms, and (dried and fried) tofu.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Really easy to arrange – Simply simmer the rehydrated shiitake for 20 minutes within the 5-ingredient seasoned broth, then let it soak because it cools. It’s that straightforward!
- Delivers a lift of umami from soaking – I like how a lot savory-sweet taste the shiitake mushrooms take up.
- It tastes even higher then subsequent day – The flavour improves the longer the mushrooms soak within the broth. It retains within the fridge for a number of days, so I prep it forward of time to serve through the week.
- It’s a versatile and handy dish – You possibly can serve it chilled, heat, or at room temperature. It’s a scrumptious aspect dish, noodle topping, or filling for thick sushi rolls.
Components for Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms
- Dried shiitake mushrooms
- Dashi (Japanese soup inventory)
- Sake
- Mirin
- Soy sauce
- Sugar
Discover the printable recipe with measurements beneath.
Substitutions
- Dashi: I exploit commonplace Japanese soup inventory you can make from scratch with my Awase Dashi recipe. For comfort, I usually use a Dashi Packet that’s almost nearly as good! For a vegan/vegetarian various, you should utilize Vegan Dashi or Kombu Dashi as an alternative. I usually don’t use prompt dashi powder (or vegan kombu dashi powder) in my recipes, however you can use it in a pinch.
- Sake and mirin: These are two important pantry objects that I extremely suggest for Japanese cooking. Should you can’t discover sake, you should utilize water. Should you can’t discover mirin, you’ll be able to substitute 1 Tbsp water and 1 tsp sugar for each 1 Tbsp mirin. The flavour received’t be the identical, but it surely’s shut.
- Soy sauce: Use tamari soy sauce for gluten-free if wanted.
Tips on how to Make Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms
Preparation
Step 1 – Rehydrate the dried shiitake mushrooms. Soak them in a bowl of water for half-hour.
Step 2 – Thinly slice the mushroom caps. As soon as the shiitake are delicate and tender, squeeze out the water. Minimize off and discard the stems, then lower the caps into skinny slices.
Cooking
Step 3 – Add all of the substances to a pot. Place the sliced mushrooms, dashi, sake, mirin, sugar, and soy sauce in a saucepan. Stir and produce it to a boil over medium-low warmth.
Step 4 – Simmer till the liquid reduces. Decrease the warmth and prepare dinner for 20 minutes or till there’s simply sufficient broth to cowl the mushrooms.
Step 5 – Cool the shiitake within the seasoned broth. Soak the mushrooms whereas heat to advertise higher taste absorption. As soon as cooled, it’s able to serve.
Nami’s Recipe Suggestions
- Use a heavy object to submerge the dried shiitake – I place a small bowl on prime to maintain them underwater. Should you don’t weigh them down, the mushrooms will float on the floor and won’t rehydrate.
- Simmer till the liquid reduces – This concentrates the savory and candy broth to accentuate the seasoning.
- Cool the cooked mushrooms within the seasoned broth – The shiitake will take up the flavour of the broth higher whereas it’s heat.
Fukumeni Variations
Under are a few of my favourite methods to make use of the fukumeni approach to infuse scrumptious taste into varied Japanese substances. I encourage you to strive different variations to
- Simmered Koyadofu. This recipe for freeze-dried tofu (Koya tofu) is a good instance of a traditional fukumeni dish.
- Simmered Fried Tofu and Greens. Get pleasure from a contemporary style with aburaage (Japanese deep-fried tofu) and your alternative of greens like spinach, bok choy, cabbage, napa cabbage, or komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach).
- Eggplant Agebitashi. On this variation, we first deep-fry Japanese eggplant till crispy. The nice and cozy, cooked eggplant then simply absorbs the scrumptious broth when soaked.
Methods to Use Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms
These seasoned mushrooms are scrumptious served chilled, heat, or at room temperature! Listed below are some ways in which I like to make use of them.
- As a aspect dish – Simmered shiitake is so handy whenever you want another dish to spherical out your meal, whether or not you’re serving an off-the-cuff lunch or a composed Ichiju Sansai dinner.
- In a sushi roll – Use it as a filling in Futomaki and Ehomaki.
- On scattered sushi – It’s an exquisite topping to scatter on Chirashi Sushi (additionally known as chirashizushi).
- On dashi-based noodles – It’s an amazing vegan substitute for meat on Japanese Chilly Somen Noodles, sizzling somen soup, Hiyashi Chuka, udon, and soba.
- In bento – It makes a pleasant addition to a bento field lunch. Simply be sure you squeeze out any extra liquid earlier than packing it.
Storage Suggestions
To retailer: Switch the leftovers to an hermetic container and retailer within the fridge for 4–5 days or within the freezer for as much as a month. To serve, thaw it in a single day within the fridge. You possibly can take pleasure in it chilled, at room temperature, or heat.
To reheat: To serve it heat, convey it to a simmer within the saucepan.
Incessantly Requested Questions
Sure, you’ll be able to! Recent shiitake mushrooms are an amazing choice in case you’re in a pinch. Nevertheless, please be aware that they received’t present the identical daring, umami-rich taste that dried shiitake mushrooms convey to the dish.
Hearty plant-based substances work greatest. Widespread substances to prepare dinner utilizing the fukumeni technique embrace greens like daikon, carrots, lotus root, taro, burdock root, kabocha squash, eggplant; mushrooms; and soy merchandise like deep-fried tofu pouches (aburaage) and freeze-dried tofu (Koya tofu).
Extra Simmered Recipes
Should you love this Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms recipe, you’re in for a deal with with these different irresistible simmered recipes.
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To Put together the Mushrooms
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To rehydrate the shiitake, add 6 dried shiitake mushrooms and about 1 cup water to a bowl and allow them to soak for half-hour. Place a smaller bowl on prime to maintain the mushrooms submerged.
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When the shiitake are delicate and tender, take away them from the soaking liquid and gently squeeze them out. Minimize off and discard the stems. Then, lower the mushroom caps into very skinny slices and squeeze out any remaining liquid.
To Prepare dinner
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Place the sliced shiitake in a saucepan. Add 1 cup dashi (Japanese soup inventory), 1 Tbsp sake, and 1 Tbsp mirin.
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Add 1 Tbsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp sugar and blend all of it collectively.
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Prepare dinner over medium-low warmth, then cut back the warmth to a simmer and prepare dinner till the liquid reduces and is nearly gone, about 20 minutes. Go away sufficient broth to simply cowl the mushrooms. Take away from the warmth and let the mushrooms cool fully within the simmering broth to soak up extra taste.
To Serve and Retailer
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It is now able to serve at room temperature, heat, or chilled. To sit back, switch the mushrooms and broth to an hermetic container and retailer it within the fridge for 4–5 days. The flavour will enhance the longer the mushrooms soak within the seasoned broth. You can too freeze it for as much as 1 month. Once you’re able to serve, defrost it within the fridge in a single day. To serve it heat, convey it to a simmer within the saucepan.
