Fresh Picks: Mushrooms 101

Welcome back to Fresh Picks, in which we spotlight the seasonal ingredients we love. We’ve obsessed over apples, sung the praises of winter squash and given Brussels sprouts their due. A drumroll, please, for today’s super-savory, nutritious and versatile ingredient: mushrooms. 

Mushrooms are literally in a class of their own. The other produce we eat are plants, but mushrooms are fungi, a different kingdom of living things. Earthy, umami-rich and adaptable, mushrooms are what smart cooks reach for when they want depth and earthiness.

Fungi is a large kingdom that encompasses everything from yeast to the cute little baby bellas you sauté for your pasta. They don’t contain chlorophyll and instead get energy from organic materials, like decomposing leaves, tree bark and, yes, manure. The frilly, capped parts we eat are only one part of the organism: Underground, mushrooms grow through a branching, tendril-like system called mycelium. That means one individual organism can be absolutely huge, invisibly so. The largest—and possibly oldest—known organism on earth is actually a giant mushroom living in Oregon, which encompasses four square miles and may be more than 8,000 years old.

Okay, but you’re not going to toss that one with melted butter. The mushrooms we eat are either cultivated or wild, and they are all harvested by hand, which accounts for their price point. All mushrooms will add a savory, umami flavor to your cooking, but texture and flavor vary by variety, including dense and assertive shiitakes, nutty, frilly maitakes and mildly meaty portobellos.   

Chinese medicine has long celebrated mushrooms’ now-trendy health benefits, which are considerable. Mushrooms provide B vitamins, potassium, selenium, antioxidants and unique compounds linked to immune and brain health. And of course, some of them produce psychedelic compounds. Magic.

Mushrooms shine in cooler months—cozy cooking season—bolstering stir-fries, stews and pastas. They can be seared like meat, making them a HexClad favorite. Because mushrooms are 90 percent water, be sure to let them cook until they release that moisture and shrink. That’s when their sugars concentrate and that signature umami flavor deepens. That shrinkage is significant, so you always want to start with more than you think you’ll need. 

How to Select Mushrooms

Look for mushrooms that are firm, dry and smooth with no sliminess or dark wet spots. Fresh mushrooms should smell mild and earthy, not sour or fishy.

Button, cremini and portobello mushrooms should have tight caps and intact stems. Check that specialty mushrooms like shiitake, oyster or maitake are springy and moist, not brittle or shriveled.

Mushrooms are often sold sealed under plastic, but you might spot them loose at farmer’s markets. Grab them, because they are better when stored that way. 

How to Store Mushrooms

Skip the plastic bag: Mushrooms are best stored unwashed in a paper bag or loosely wrapped in a paper towel in the refrigerator. This keeps excess moisture at bay and extends their shelf life to about a week.

Clean mushrooms just before cooking with them. A quick wipe with a damp towel or a gentle rinse followed by thorough drying is all they need. 

Five Great Ways to Cook Mushrooms

1. Get a Hard Sear

This applies to almost all mushroom preparations: Mushrooms love high heat, and they don’t like to be crowded in a pan, which can lead to steaming instead of searing. Cook them in a screamingly hot pan in oil with a pinch of salt. Like meat, let them cook undisturbed. Resist the urge to stir. Your payoff will be very crisp, deeply browned mushrooms that taste incredible. You can sear mushrooms and serve them with seared steak for a total umami fest or scatter them on toast with an egg on top. 

2. Underline the Umami

You can boost mushrooms’ natural earthiness by pairing them with other savory ingredients like soy sauce, miso, anchovies or Parmesan. That’s the idea behind this Parm-heavy mushroom risotto. 

3. Keep Your Hands Off

The easiest way to make the most of mushrooms is to roast them. Toss them with oil, salt and pepper and spread them out on a sheet pan. Add thyme, rosemary or chile flakes if you’re feeling fancy, and roast until deeply browned and crisp at the edges. Put them on eggs or toast, pureé them into soup or just eat them straight from the pan.

4. Make them the Main Event

Mushrooms can anchor a meal, especially when you’re going meat-free. This super-smart Bolognese gets complex flavor and texture from two different varieties of mushrooms, plus lentils and butternut squash. 

5. Simmer!

Mushroom soup is classic for a reason. When simmered, mushrooms add savoriness to the whole dish much like good chicken broth does. This Japanese noodle number is bolstered by either maitakes or shitakes.

We love mushrooms for their big flavor, for their searability (a word that should exist) and for their amazing, class-of-their own qualities. You can use them instead of meat or as a partner to it.

So grab a pint of oysters, shiitakes or humble white buttons and get cooking.