Mushroom dishes enliven any meal, fill it with aromas of the forest and give benefits. To fully enjoy the unforgettable taste, you need to know how to prepare dried mushrooms, how to soak them in water and how long it will take. Fresh mushrooms are also soaked, but not all. It is important to adhere to the technology so that the hats do not become sap. Read on for step-by-step instructions for making dry and fresh mushrooms.
What is soaking for?
Mushrooms are widely used in cooking. They are useful, satisfying, have a bright forest aroma. Most often, fresh crops or dry preparations are used in recipes.
Before you start cooking, mushrooms are cleaned, washed, and sometimes soaked. What is it for?
- Fresh mushrooms of certain species are bitter. When soaked, the unpleasant taste disappears. In addition, worms are often wound up in hats and legs. Water makes the parasites leave their edible house.
- Dried mushrooms are soaked before cooking so that they swell and become soft. In addition, the procedure allows you to subsequently grind them and cut them into any way (straws, slices, quarters). And some types of mushrooms, such as porcini, do not wash before drying. In this case, soaking makes it possible to straighten the hats and rinse them well.
What fresh mushrooms need to be soaked?
In the water, all freshly picked mushrooms are soaked, which belong to the lactic and lamellar. For soaking, it is correct to use cold saline solution (70 g of salt per 1 liter of water). At the same time, it is necessary to drain the liquid 2-3 times a day, rinse the mushrooms and pour in a fresh portion of water with salt repeatedly. Soaking can last from 1 to 5 days. The readiness is indicated by a whitened color.
Species to be soaked:
- chanterelles;
- breasts;
- waves
- bitters;
- saffron mushrooms;
- value;
- whites;
- pigs;
- earrings;
- clerks.
Other types of mushrooms are best not soaked, but cleaned, washed and immediately put into action. Lubricants are completely cleaned dry, because when wet, they become slippery and strive to escape from the hands. If for some reason it’s impossible to start cooking right away, you can pour cold water over the crop and put it in the refrigerator for the night.
Regardless of whether the mushrooms were picked independently or purchased at a point of sale, they must be sorted before soaking. At the slightest doubt, the specimen should be put aside from well-known friends and not eaten.
How to soak dried mushrooms?
Dry mushrooms are a fragrant reminder of warm summers and generous autumn. In this form, they are easy to store. They do not take up much space, and when soaked, they increase by 6–10 times. That is, if according to the recipe you need to add 300 grams of fresh mushrooms to the dish, then in dry form the equivalent will be 50 grams.
How to soak a dry workpiece?
- Pour mushrooms into a clean container, draw water and rub thoroughly with your hands. Drain the liquid.
- Pour mushrooms with water in a ratio of 1 to 10. Leave for 1-8 hours.
What water to soak dried mushrooms in?
To soak the mushrooms, use clean water at room temperature. To speed up the swelling process, you can slightly warm it up.
In no case should you pour the dried product with boiling water. So you get a fragrant liquid, and the mushrooms themselves become tasteless and tough.
If you need to quickly add the ingredient to the dish, it will be more accurate to grind the dry workpiece and use as a seasoning.
How much soak mushrooms for soup?
For soup, delicious broth is of great importance. When soaking dried mushrooms, they give most of the nutrients and aroma to water. Therefore, it is not drained, but filtered and used in cooking. If the mushrooms are dirty, then they are filled with water 2 times. First time - for 30 minutes to rinse thoroughly.
How long does it take to soak before cooking soup?
- Minimum - 2 hours.
- The maximum is 8 hours.
Chinese wood mushrooms, which are sold in briquettes, are soaked longer than others. You can absolutely calmly leave them in the water overnight.
In general, it is correct to navigate not by time, but by the degree of increase and softness of the fungi. If they are cut into thin plates, then the process can take much less time - 10-15 minutes.
Liquid after soaking often has a sediment in the form of particles of dirt, sand. Therefore, for the broth take only the upper transparent part, and the residue is drained.
How much to soak mushrooms for frying?
Before frying, dried mushrooms are also soaked. But in this case, it is important not to overexpose them in water.
After what time should I start frying? The correct answer is after 2-3 hours. After this time, the mushrooms should be thoroughly rubbed with your hands, rinsed with running water and discarded to drain into a colander.
If it is planned to use dried porcini mushrooms for frying, experienced chefs recommend taking fat milk instead of water. What delicious and juicy mushrooms turn out! The soaking process takes the same time. Previously, the mushrooms are thoroughly washed, and the milk is boiled.
So, soaking the mushrooms is a simple task. The main thing is to know what water they should be in. It is best to use clean water at room temperature. The duration of the procedure may vary. If these are dry blanks, then it is correct to focus on the appearance. Mushrooms swollen, gained fullness, became soft? It's time to start cooking!