Mushrooms are Amazing!

There are over 14,000 types of mushrooms on our planet. We don’t know exactly how many, as ‘new’ mushrooms are being discovered all the time. Some defy categorization, some pretend to be another type of mushroom, but all are amazing. And we are only at the start of working out how we can use them.

A selection of mushrooms for vegan cooking

Teaching my students about mushrooms in our Vegan Chef Diploma course

Of course the primary focus for me is how can I cook with them and how can I utilize them so that I can help people to go vegan and stay vegan for longer (this is my mission which you can read more about here). Mushrooms play a crucial part in vegan food, they contain umami and not just a little bit, they have it in abundance. Umami is one of the 5 - 6 tastes, there are either 5 or more tastes depending on which categorization of taste you opt in to. Umami is unlike the other tastes. It stands out, it is not as obvious as sweet, for example. On the tongue it is an amorphous taste, difficult to describe. And it is more than taste, often being described somewhat blandly as ‘pleasant mouthfeel’. It is savoury but not to be confused with one of the other tastes, salty. It creates a depth of flavour that easily makes a dish more rich and delicious.

It has been claimed that umami is the taste, above all the other tastes, that people miss the most when they become vegan. This is why umami and mushrooms are an integral part of our Vegan Chef Diploma. Umami can be found in a lot of non vegan food such as meat, fish and cheese. But it is also in many vegan ingredients too, see our comprehensive list below. Mushrooms are packed full of umami, dried shiitake contain high amounts and are incredibly nutritious. We call a dish with multiple sources of umami an “umami-bomb”, think of a miso soup with mushrooms and seaweed.

This wild chanterelle is a beautiful darker colour than the usual golden

Mushrooms have a wide variety of textures, from tough King Oyster mushrooms that can be shredded to mimic pork to delicate Chanterelles cooked in a soft risotto. The texture of mushroom is as important as the taste, they are often described as having a “meaty” texture yet they have a variety of textures. Enoki become soft noodles when cooked in a broth, yet Shiitake adds a chewy texture to the same broth. Morels have a fine and impressive lattice work with an unusual texture whereas oyster mushrooms have a soft pillow-like quality.

However, there are plenty of mushroom haters out there. Often people hate mushrooms for the same reason they hate tofu - they ate mushrooms that were cooked incorrectly. Mushrooms are (like tofu) sponges. They soak up any liquid they come into contact with. So if they are fried in oil at too low a temperature they will become greasy and very unpleasant to eat. If they are allowed to sweat or are in a pan with the lid on they will...you guessed it….become slimy. If they are bought in a tin they are in liquid, so once again, they are slimy. Even if someone is adamant in their mushroom hate they may still enjoy my Vegan Burger recipe. I have made this recipe at many vegan festivals where I requested taste tested by self-confessed mushroom haters. They were always surprised by how much they loved the burgers!

Our EPIC vegan burger that converts any mushroom hater

Mushrooms with vegan feta from our Vegan Chef Diploma course

The cooking methods for each type of mushroom varies slightly but as a rule most mushrooms react well to being seared, at a high heat, with a little bit of oil. They should be browned slightly and usually cooked for a short time. As they have a lot of flavour of their own you don’t have to add other ingredients to make them tasty unless you want to. Or if you are using white button mushrooms that are a mainstay of every UK supermarket. (As an aside they are the only mushrooms I can buy that do not come in a plastic box so I am using them in a lot of recipes currently).

Due to the short cooking time mushrooms are perfect for the time-poor cook. A spring onion, bell pepper and mushroom stir fry can be whipped up in minutes. Some mushrooms are very budget-friendly and, as mentioned above, can be bought with minimal packaging. They can be frozen so if you find yourself with a glut of them simply pop them in a bag in the freezer. When you want to use them, lay them flat to defrost on a tea towel.

Our Easy Wellington. Mushrooms add an earthy depth to this delightful Christmas recipe.

Mushrooms should never be washed. They are sponges so if they come into contact with water they will soak it up. Most mushrooms just need a gentle brush with a clean tea towel to remove any dirt. However some mushrooms, such as wild Chanterelles, come with a headache-inducing amount of dirt clinging to their gills. You can get a mushroom brush to help you remove the dirt but beware, many mushroom brushes are made with pig hair. For this reason I select mushrooms carefully, taking into consideration how much cleaning they will need.