How to prepare Bunashimeji

Buna Shimeji Mushrooms Recipes
How To Prepare Mushrooms For Cooking
How To Cook Buna Shimeji Mushrooms

Remove the base

How to Cook Shimeji Mushroom Soup. Melt the butter in a pot over low-medium heat. Add the olive oil, onion, and carrots. Cook and stir until tender. Add the shimeji mushrooms and stir them in. Season with 2-3 bay leaves and add the canned mushroom mix. Stir them in and season with salt and pepper in the process. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Working in batches if necessary, place mushrooms in a fine mesh strainer and lower into boiling water for 15 seconds. Lift, shake of excess moisture, and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Repeat until all mushrooms are blanched. Add shallots, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, and 1 tablespoon.

First, separate the mushroom into two halves (image 1), then cut the base off creating the letter “V”, making sure not to cut off any part of the mushroom that is edible (image 2). Make sure to pick Bunashimeji with thick stems.

Chop Bunashimeji up for greater umami

It is best to separate and chop up Bunashimeji to maximize its umami. When cooking a soup, add the mushrooms before the water boils, this will allow for the release of its maximum flavor.

Don’t over chop your mushroom

Separate the mushrooms into halves, remove the base, and start cooking! Feel the crispy texture, and even if you overcook the mushroom, it will not become soggy.

Separate before cooking

It is usually best to separate Bunashimeji into a bite-size portions making it easier to cook and eat. In addition, by separating them individually, you will increase the volume of for a dish.

Back to Preparation Tips

Northern California is experiencing major heatwave in these past few days. The temperature exceeds 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) for 3 days now, and I have no mood to stand in the kitchen. With that in mind, I will share this really quick and delicious stir fry with you, butter garlic soy sauce shimeji stir fry.

Shimeji (beech mushroom) and other ingredients for this stir-fry

Shimeji is actually not just one mushroom, but a group of edible mushrooms native to East Asia. Like most mushrooms, shimeji is rich in guanylic acid, glutamic acid, and aspartic acid, basically components that make shimeji mushrooms full of umami flavors.

Two varieties of shimeji that are commonly sold in the US are buna shimeji/brown beech/brown clamshell mushroom and bunapi shimeji/white beech/white clamshell mushroom.

If you have never tried shimeji before, you are missing out, and I think they look super cute too :) If you can get both the brown and the white varieties, I think using both varieties lends the dish a pretty color combo presentation.

To prepare shimeji, trim off the root part (like enoki if you ever tried that). Then, tear off individual mushroom stalks so they don’t all bunch up together. If you see any dirt, just wipe them off with a wet kitchen town since it’s always better not to submerge mushrooms in water.

Aside from shimeji, you will also need unsalted butter, garlic, soy sauce, salt, ground white pepper, and scallion.

5 Minutes Stir Fry

Once your prep work is done, the dish should be ready in no time.

Heat butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the butter melts, add shimeji to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.

Buna Shimeji Mushrooms Recipes

Add garlic into the pan, mix well and cook for 30 seconds.

Add soy sauce, salt, and ground white pepper. Once the sauce is dry, turn off the heat and transfer to a serving plate.

How To Prepare Mushrooms For Cooking

Serve the shimeji stir fry immediately garnished with thinly sliced scallion.

How To Cook Buna Shimeji Mushrooms

Voila! You have a quick and delicious shimeji mushroom dish. If you want, you can pair this with a plate of pasta too for a quick weekday meal.