# Matsutake Mushrooms - Recipes? What to do?



## Burl Source (Nov 25, 2012)

The season for Matsutakes is just starting here in Southern Oregon.
You can tell when the season starts because the buyers show up with their shipping containers next to the grocery store.
The way you can tell the season is good is after dark the grocery store fills up with strangers speaking a foreign language (not Spanish).

I was thinking about taking a day off and heading for the hills.
Not looking to pick mushrooms to sell, but was thinking about getting some for my own use.
I have never used Matsutakes before, but since they can be pretty expensive I thought they might be good.

If anyone has any recipes or suggestions I would like to hear them.

Thanks, Mark

BTW
Time for the Chantrelles too.


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## crimedog72 (Nov 27, 2012)

matsutakes are good. I live in WA and went mushroom picking on the olympic peninsula a few years back. It was apparently a good year for matsutakes, I came back with about 15 pounds.

most mushrooms are on the milder-flavored side...not so with matsutakes. Also called the pine mushroom, their flavor does kind of remind me of the aroma of pine trees/sap. They tend to dominate any dish they are used in. If you end up not liking them, you'll have a hard time 'burying' them in a dish. I liked simple preparations the best: a soup of matsutakes and not much else poached in a light broth, sliced thin and broiled, fried in a light batter. I rolled some up in phyllo and baked (cook the mushrooms first), that was pretty good. But if you mix them up with other strong flavors, it can really be a mess. I really enjoyed them, but even so, 15 pounds in a 2-person household was a little more than I needed.


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## mhlee (Nov 27, 2012)

Matsutakes are prized by Japanese. Let me see if I can find a few recipes. One classic Japanese dish is Matsutake Gohan - Matsutake rice. It is extremely tasty.


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## cnochef (Nov 27, 2012)

They are delicious with roasted pheasant and mashed potatoes.


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## Korin_Mari (Nov 27, 2012)

Matsutake rice cooked in an earthenware pot with salted salmon... ::goes off into dream world::

Now I'm hungry.


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## sachem allison (Nov 27, 2012)

tempura


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## Burl Source (Nov 27, 2012)

For my personal tastes I think I would lean toward a dish that would go with meat as a topping or side dish.


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## hambone.johnson (Nov 28, 2012)

Roasted beef or duck consomme with matsutakii mushrooms. the matsutakii is hearty enough that you could just half them and pan sear, get good color, then deglaze with some chicken stock, cook the mushrooms, and then a little pad of butter, glaze out with sprinkle of salt and serve with a nice seared peice of meat. there is a lot of flavor there so you dont really need to beat them up or dress them up, just cook them long enough they are actually eddible.


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## El Pescador (Nov 28, 2012)

Peppercorn steak with a mushroom demiglaze.


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## mhlee (Nov 28, 2012)

crimedog72 said:


> most mushrooms are on the milder-flavored side...not so with matsutakes. Also called the pine mushroom, their flavor does kind of remind me of the aroma of pine trees/sap. They tend to dominate any dish they are used in. If you end up not liking them, you'll have a hard time 'burying' them in a dish. I liked simple preparations the best: a soup of matsutakes and not much else poached in a light broth, sliced thin and broiled, fried in a light batter. I rolled some up in phyllo and baked (cook the mushrooms first), that was pretty good.



+1

Matsutakes are prized for their aroma. I would consider doing Matsutake in parchment (after a quick saute in butter just for color, with salt and pepper, and a pinch of delicate herbs and a touch of liquid, e.g. dashi, chicken broth, sake, etc.). That way, you can open the package and get the full effect of the aroma.

Here's one recipe for Matsutake rice. http://japanesefood.about.com/od/rice/r/matsutakegohan.htm

You can exclude the fried tofu, and instead of dashi, you can use homemade chicken broth or low sodium chicken broth and cook the rice according to instructions (or per your rice cooker's measurements if you have a cooker). You can also modify the recipe by slightly grilling sliced matsutake and then including the mushrooms in the recipe. Your rice will have a smoky flavor that would go very well with meat dishes. (I make Maitake - another mushroom - Gohan using the pre-grilled method. I also use chicken broth instead of dashi.)


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## stphntrjllo (Feb 25, 2013)

Poached matsu and porridge


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## Sambal (Feb 26, 2013)

Interesting footage in the clip 'A bite of China' posted by Schanop just a few days ago here. Matsutake foragers in China unearthing these beauties.


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## cclin (Feb 26, 2013)

for side dish with meat, you can BBQ Matsutake & drip few all nature Japanese lite soybean sauce or just sprinkle few Himalayan salt before you eat. another good dish for Matsutake is Chawanmushi(Japanese tea cup steam egg)!!


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