How To Cook Mushrooms (Like a Chef) (2024)

FAQs

How do chefs prepare mushrooms? ›

Heat the Pan: Place the skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté and Evaporate: Add the mushrooms and let them brown briefly. They will release moisture; allow it to evaporate completely. Achieve Golden Perfection: Continue to cook and stir the mushrooms until they turn golden brown, adjusting the heat as needed.

For the Best Mushrooms, Give Them a Good Sear

Cooking mushrooms concentrates their flavor and brings out notes of sweet earthiness from the Maillard reaction taking place. The best way to do this is to sear the mushrooms first in a dry pan. The high heat browns the mushrooms while instantly driving off excess moisture.

Sautéing on High or Low Heat

"Medium-high heat is the way to go with mushrooms. You want their liquids to slowly evaporate while they caramelize," says Norton. High heat can burn mushrooms, while low heat will make them cook in their own liquid, she says. You also want to be mindful of the pan.

Butter is great because it adds lots of flavor and produces a nice golden brown exterior, while adding oil allows the mushrooms to cook a little more quickly at slightly higher heat.

This will ensure that any little critters living in the mushroom find their way out. Add salt to the water you plan to wash the mushrooms with, making sure the salt dissolves in the water. Add the mushrooms to the water, and allow them to soak for 20 minutes.

"Frying and boiling treatments produced more severe losses in proteins and antioxidants compounds," wrote researcher Irene Roncero, "probably due to the leaching of soluble substances in the water or in the oil, which may significantly influence the nutritional value of the final product." But, "when mushrooms were ...

While you can sauté, grill, and even fry mushrooms, roasting them is perhaps the simplest way to draw out their savory, umami-rich flavor.

Starting Your Mushrooms In Water Intensifies Their Flavor

This is where all that water comes from in the bottom of the pan when you dry sauté a mushroom. The other part is made of tiny air pockets, which is why oil tends to disappear when used to cook mushrooms as it gets sucked up into the fibers.

The study demonstrated that cooking methods have an effect on the flavor profile of white mushrooms. Sear mushrooms for a more intense roasted, charred and smoky flavor and overall aroma. Roast mushrooms to get more sweet, salty and umami tastes with caramelized, nutty and buttery flavors.

What is the best and healthiest way to cook mushrooms? ›

The researchers concluded that the best way to cook mushrooms while still preserving their nutritional properties is to grill or microwave them, as the fried and boiled mushrooms showed significantly less antioxidant activity.

Steam cooks the mushrooms quickly, so they collapse and release liquid. After the mushroom jus evaporates, we add just ½ teaspoon of oil to brown the mushrooms. We sauté aromatics in 1 tablespoon of butter, deglaze the pan, and then simmer the mushrooms in ½ cup of broth until it reduces to a silky, emulsified glaze.

Soaked in a smoky, umami-rich sauce (think soy sauce, liquid smoke, smoked paprika) mushrooms mop up all the flavors of bacon. Then they can be sliced thinly and pan-fried or oven-roasted for a faux bacon to top salads, burgers, and breakfast sandwiches.

Sautéing them in oil first is a crucial mistake when cooking with mushrooms, as the oil will disappear, so you'll add more but then be left with soggy, oil-logged mushrooms. Cooking the mushrooms in water -- although counterintuitive and unconventional -- solves the problem of soggy mushrooms.

Button mushrooms, or agaricus bisporus, are among the most common edible mushrooms worldwide. Thanks to their ease of cultivation and rich nutritional profile, they hold over 60% of the global mushroom market.

It changes the mouth feel (less toothy) and also makes it easier to get flavors from marinades into the flesh of the mushroom.

Steaming the mushrooms in water before sautéing them surrounds them with heat, so they collapse faster and exude their own moisture. Once that moisture burns off, browning can finally begin.