Cooking Dried Mushrooms...

Everytime we are at the grocery store, there is a lady cooking the dried mushrooms. My little one LOVES them and can eat 6 or 7. The lady knows my daughtwer so well there now.


I finally broke down and bought a back of them. NOW,. the question is......... how do I cook them?


I don't know Cantonese and the lady there speaks very little English. She said cook in pot of oil, and something about some sugar and fish sauce or something.


Anyone know the procedure to cook them?

first thing you'll need to do is soak them for a couple hours and then snip off any part of the stalk that hasn't softened...

Thanks. That's a start

Continuation procedure advised by Riceman as follows...squeeze off excess water...marinate with sugar & a little flour. Heat wok with oil and add some chopped garlic, then add the mushrooms and stir fry for awhile....pour sufficient water just barely covering mushrooms and oyster sauce to taste, turned down the heat and simmer for 1/2 hour or so, depending on the thickness of the mushrooms but try not to cook over 45 minutes. When the chopstick can go through the mushroom, it is done.

Taste are very personal...oyster sauce is quite salty, use sparingly and you can add some sugar to balance the flavour.


Another preparation is as follows:

Soak a lot of mushrooms at one go and after snipping off stems and squeezing off the excess water, marinate with sugar, flour (not too much) and this time add oil also. Steam the whole lot for about 20 minutes to 30 minutes depending on the size. Leave them to cool down and and separate them into 6 pcs to 8 pcs per pack and put them into freezer for future use....this method will allow fast cooking when you want to make this dish at a later stage. All you have to do is take out the amount you want to defrost and cook whatever way you wish...eat as a whole one or slice into small pieces to compliment with different food. For example, add to stir fry beans.


Happy experimenting!