Mushrooms - Organic Dried Donko Shiitake Mushrooms, 70g x 6

These are thick and meaty mushrooms with a dome-shaped cap. Picked when budding, they are meatier than Koshin Shiitake but more bite-sized at 25-42mm. Our premium dried Shiitake Mushrooms are naturally cultivated on special oak logs in the forests of Kyushu, a Southern Island of Japan. These Donko Shiitake are organic, forest-grown and dehydrated to a moisture content of less than 9% for maximum umami impact. This special growing process gives these mushrooms a deep and unique flavour that compliments their outstanding firm texture. The Ultimate Umami Booster: while Glutamate and Inosinate are widely recognised as Umami-boosters, the chemical reaction that occurs when you rehydrate these mushrooms produces enough Guanylate to intensify the Glutamate Umami by around 7-8 times – that’s a big difference on the palate. Our partners, Sugimoto Shoten work with registered growers growing shiitake to the highest standards. They were awarded the 2020 Sustainability Award by the Japanese Government for their 15-year cycle for shiitake growing: 15-year-old freshly cut oak logs are impregnated with spawn, after two years dormancy the logs will fruit twice a year for 5 years. Used logs are then naturally decomposed in the forest by rhinoceros beetles. Seedlings grow from the cut stumps of the trees, after 15 years they are ready to be cut again for logs. How To Use: Rehydrating your Shiitake Mushrooms couldn’t be simpler. As they are gown naturally outside, it’s advisable to give them a wash before fully submersing them in cold water. They should then be kept at a temperature of less than 10ºC for 6 - 24 hours. The stem of the mushroom is the toughest part, so the best way to know if your mushrooms are ready is to give it a light squeeze. If you need to speed the process up, you can soak the mushrooms in cold water for an hour, then remove the stems and return to soak for another hour. The mushrooms will absorb a lot of liquid through the cut surface. Stems should be finely chopped before use, caps are used whole or sliced. As the mushrooms have been exposed to the elements outside in the forest, the broth that is left over – or Dashi – has a very deep, rich flavour and makes a superb Umami-boosting ingredient in many dishes.