It starts with a dilemma: you want the mushrooms completely clean, but when you wash them they suck up so much water that they quickly turn into tasteless sponges. What do you do with that?
If you want to prepare tasty, crunchy mushrooms, it is best to proceed in this way.
- To clean the mushrooms without them filling up with water, rinse them very briefly under cold running water while removing the dirt with your fingers. Then pat them dry very well. You can also use a brush or a damp sheet of paper towel to clean them, but that does not always give a satisfactory result.
- Then cut away the lower, hard part of the stem. You can use those mushroom feet perfectly in a soup.
- Melt some oil or butter in a warm pan with a thick bottom and fry the mushrooms in it. Do not put the pan too full because during baking the mushrooms release moisture. If you give them the necessary space, that moisture can evaporate sufficiently. For the same reason, it is better to wait with the addition of salt, because that also extracts moisture. Pepper and lemon juice are also best added at the end of the baking time.
- Do not stir the mushrooms in the pan all the time. First let the edges turn golden brown and only then mix them to let them fry all around.
- Don't let them bake for too long. The cooked time for white mushrooms and shiitake is 4 to 5 minutes, oyster mushrooms need 5 to 8 minutes.
