283138 Sat Feb 11 22:30:43 -0800 2006 5 31 Home Cooking 0 1510733 This is my first post to this board, but have enjoyed reading many others. I was recently given a bag of dried Chinese mushrooms. I know very little about mushrooms, as I rarely cook with them. I would love some suggestions that will highlight them, as opposed to burying them in a multi-ingredient dish. I am happy to use them in either an entree or a side dish, so I welcome your suggestions. Thanks! Sat Feb 11 22:30:43 -0800 2006 0 RoscoNY 1 1510738 If you really want to highlight them, put them in a very delicate soup. I've posted an example recipe of a miso with dried mushrooms though I've never made it, which I normally don't do, but I thought this would just give you some guidelines. Link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_28435,00.html Sat Feb 11 23:18:04 -0800 2006 1510733 0 Aaron 1 1510748 You'll find many Chinese recipes abound using these dried mushrooms, though I've not tried to use in any other cuisine, but creativity is possible, once you get to know their taste. One thing I want to mention is that you'll need to soak them in hot water for 20 minutes, changing water a couple of the times (squeezing them before changing water). It depends on the quality of the mushroom you get. Better looking requires less rough treatment. Some recipes call for preserving the juice, but I don't, as I've found much dirt/sand. Some cookbooks say that it tastes better if you'll soak them longer, overnight, in lukewarm water. Whatever way you soak them, before cooking, get rid of the stem with extreme prejudice. I'd even carve out the stem base. Welcome to the board. Looking forward to your contribution. Sun Feb 12 00:18:41 -0800 2006 1510733 0 ahong 2 1510755 Soaking overnight to get them full hydrated is even better. Sometimes the shorter soak leaves them a little bitter and you may need to add some sugar to your recipe to counteract it. Sun Feb 12 03:08:32 -0800 2006 1510748 0 Melanie Wong 1 1510761 I assume you know how to prepare them. My mother would put them in her mushroom barley soup and everyone loved the earthy, meaty taste they added to the soup. I don't have the recipe, as I do not like mushroom barley soup (its the barley), but if you need it I could ask my sister. Sun Feb 12 08:16:53 -0800 2006 1510733 0 fai jay (fai jackson) 1 1510810 After seeing this post yesterday I soaked some dried mushrooms for 12 hours and added a whole bunch to my chicken soup broth I was simmering for two days. Cooked with more chicken and some veggies, and added some dumplings. I now have a huge batch of thick luscious chicken mushroom dumpling soup. I had way more than I could eat so I packed 3/4 of it up and walked over to several friends on my way to my folks place, dropping off care packages as I walked through the 2-3 feet of blustering and billowing snow. I also had made several loaves of banana nut bread early this morning and added 1/2 loaf to each package. Too bad my snow shoes were almost useless since the snow is so light and fluffy. Whew... now it's time to relax before I dig myself out. My car is under a 6+ foot drift and my walk is covered in 3+ feet. The drifts are pretty deep in places and silly folks keep trying to get their cars out but get stuck even worse. None of them have any place they need to go, why not just wait a few hours for the plows to fully clear the streets? ... and to think that just last week I was out in just a shirt enjoying the spring like weather. Sun Feb 12 14:09:14 -0800 2006 1510733 0 JMF