canned straw mushrooms

[divadmas]

how do you use these in your cooking? what is the difference between peeled and unpeeled? does brand make a difference? i was thinking about using in some kind of asian soup.

[seamunky]

I like them in Tom Yum soup

[attran99]

They work well in stir-fry recipes. Just make sure you drain and rinse to get rid of the preservative water. And you can use either peeled or unpeeled. My Mom uses both...and I used to pick them out and eat them first...still do actually :)

[acgold7]

I love the water and always use it, especially in soups. In stir-frys I use it as the liquid for the corn starch.

We had a Chinese exchange student living with us a while ago and when I cooked for her, she said, "Your food tastes so....Asian!"

I've generally found that the water just tastes like whatever the ingredient is, plus salt. No tinny or off tastes in the ones I've tried.

[attran99]

Respectfully disagree. The preservative water has a strange salty funk to it, and I make it a general rule to throw preservative water out because of strict instruction from my fabulous
Vietnamese cook of a mother. If I need liquid for my cornstarch, I usually use chicken stock or a vegetable-mushroom stock.

[alkapal]

re straw mushrooms, i have a question:

why does the internet show two very different mushrooms as "straw" mushrooms -- the long skinny enoki and the chubby little gnome-like mushrooms?

[acgold7]

The little troll cottages are the only ones I know as straw mushrooms. Enoki are, well, enoki. I've never heard them referred to as straw mushrooms but it may vary by region.

[acgold7]

For stir-fries I use peeled, but for soups I use unpeeled. I started doing this after I had the unpeeled in a delicious soup at a high-end local restaurant. The covering holds in a lot of natural juice which helps flavor the soup. The unpeeled ones look a lot like little brown eggs when they are whole.

[CanadaGirl]

I agree that the peeled is important. I also can't stress enough the importance of rinsing; they can sometimes be REALLY tinny tasting otherwise. My favourite use is in soup.

[RelishPDX]

Unpeeled usually have a woody mesh-like covering on some of them which is best avoided, as are the cans of 'broken' mushrooms. Brand makes no difference at all, just go for the cheapest whole peeled variety ($1.48 for a 15 oz. can at the Asian stores here). I've also never found a difference in the medium and large size when a size is listed on the can.

Straw mushrooms are great in soups, also in Egg Foo Yung if you don't have fresh mushrooms around. I always slice mine in half from top to bottom after rinsing.

[Jerseygirl111]

Love straw mushrooms. Honestly the recipe I use them in you could probably substitute any kind of mushroom. Marinated breaded chicken breast with Artichokes and Mushrooms.
The breaded chicken cutlets are mixed with marinated artichoke hearts and the canned mushrooms. A cruet of Good Seasons Italian dressing (powdered pkg) is made substituting balsamic vinegar for the red wine called for. Pour over the chicken, artichokes and mushrooms. Marinate overnight in fridge, mixing occasionally. The marinade will be absorbed, so the next day you make an additional cruet of the balsamic dressing and pour over the chicken. Cover and bake till heated through. Huge hit at parties.

[alkapal]

that sounds good. the chicken absorbs all that dressing -- how much chicken?

[Jerseygirl111]

Sorry, alka, I am so bad about going back to read previous posts. We make it for parties, so the original recipe calls for 5lbs of chicken breasts, but you can easily cut it down and just make one recie of the dressing and split it in half. You might also want to cut back on the oil.