How long do fresh mushrooms need to be stewed before they are cooked?

How long do fresh mushrooms need to be stewed before they are cooked? How long until fresh mushrooms are done?

Generally speaking, 5 minutes is enough. When making soup normally, for thin ones, such as oyster mushrooms, put them in, and once the water comes to a boil again, 3-5 minutes is enough. For thick ones, such as shiitake mushrooms, put them in, and once the water comes to a boil again, 8-10 minutes is enough. The stems, though, are rather tough to chew, so I usually cut the stems into small sections.

If it is shiitake mushrooms stewed with pork ribs, then put the whole shiitake mushrooms and the pork ribs into the pot together; when the pork ribs are done, the shiitake mushrooms will naturally be done too.

Further information:

Fungal polysaccharides

A large part of the composition of mushrooms is what is called “dietary fiber”, but unlike the cellulose in vegetables, it is actually more like the main substance that makes up crab shells and shrimp shells——chitin. Although these substances that are not easily digested can promote gastrointestinal motility, more is not always better; there have been cases of people eating shiitake mushrooms and developing intestinal obstruction.

Flavor compounds

In addition, whether something tastes delicious or not has absolutely nothing to do with whether it is nutritious; they are two entirely unrelated things. Through analysis, the source of the umami in mushrooms is mainly some flavorful amino acids such as glutamic acid and aspartic acid, as well as flavor nucleotides such as inosinic acid and guanylic acid. However, these things are not anything magical: glutamic acid is the main component of the MSG we normally eat, while inosinic acid appears more often in seasonings such as chicken essence. We can easily find their names in the ingredient lists of seasonings.

Mineral elements

The mineral element content of some mushrooms is quite good. For example, the zinc content in shiitake mushrooms is very high, with 0.66 mg per 100 grams of fresh shiitake mushrooms. From this perspective, mushrooms are still a source of supplemental mineral elements.

Fat

The fat content in mushrooms is very low. The fat content of fresh mushrooms is usually below 1%, and most do not even reach 0.5%. Therefore, when we cook mushrooms we usually use a large amount of oil or fat, such as pan-frying matsutake mushrooms in butter, or stewing chicken with mushrooms, otherwise the texture will not be satisfying. However, from another perspective, low-fat mushrooms are good news for people who are trying to lose weight. Just do not eat them to the point of intestinal obstruction.