Should dried shiitake mushrooms be soaked in cold water or hot water?

Dried shiitake mushrooms are made by drying fresh shiitake mushrooms through oven-drying or sun-drying. Dried shiitake mushrooms keep for a relatively long time, so many people turn the fresh mushrooms they cannot finish into dried ones. Dried shiitake mushrooms are delicious when stir-fried, stewed or boiled, with a richer aroma and a very tender texture, making them a widely loved ingredient. We all know that dried shiitake mushrooms need to be soaked before cooking, so when soaking dried shiitake mushrooms, should you use cold water or hot water?

I believe many people have never paid attention to this step. Soaking dried shiitake mushrooms is quite particular; get this step wrong and half the nutrients are lost! So when soaking dried shiitake mushrooms, should you use cold water or hot water? Let's have a good talk about it below.

For soaking dried shiitake mushrooms, it is best to use warm water. First rinse the surface of the shiitake mushrooms clean with cold water, remove the stems (this part is rather hard, and I generally do not eat it), then soak them in warm water at about 30°C for one to two hours. Soaking dried shiitake mushrooms in warm water not only softens them quickly, but also does not cause the nutrients in the mushrooms to be lost.

Soaking in cold water is actually possible too, but shiitake mushrooms contain a ribonuclease that is not easily released in cold water, and they must be soaked for a very long time before they soften. Soaking in cold water generally requires more than 10 hours, which takes too much time, and the mushrooms should not be soaked too long either, because the nutrients in them will be leached out over time, greatly reducing their aroma and savory flavor.

Soaking shiitake mushrooms in boiling water is even worse. I believe many people choose hot water just to shorten the soaking time, but soaking dried shiitake mushrooms in hot water loses a large portion of the nutrients, causing the polysaccharides and high-quality amino acids in the mushrooms to dissolve into the water; it also affects the texture of the dried shiitake mushrooms, making them less chewy.

If you want to save time, then soak dried shiitake mushrooms using the following 3 methods:

1. Soak in warm water with a lid on

Warm water at about 30°C makes dried shiitake mushrooms absorb water and soften more easily, and soaking in warm water allows the guanylic acid in them to fully break down and release their savory aroma. Putting a lid on during warm-water soaking shortens the soaking time and softens them thoroughly; they are ready in about 10 minutes.

2. Soak with wet starch added

First soak the shiitake mushrooms in warm water for half an hour, then add wet starch and wash the mushrooms, which thoroughly removes the sand and grit from the dried shiitake mushrooms; then rinse them once more with clean water, and the mushrooms will show a very nice color.

3. Soak in cold water with white sugar added

If soaking shiitake mushrooms in cold water, add some white sugar to the water and soak for about half an hour; this also softens the mushrooms quickly. When the mushrooms are soft, take them out and drain off the water.

So for soaking dried shiitake mushrooms, it is best to use warm water; never soak them in hot water. Get this step wrong and half the nutrients will be lost!