Fresh mushrooms - regardless of whether they have been collected from the meadow, grown on a bale of straw in the garden or bought in the supermarket - can be used in a variety of ways for soups, sauces and salads. The aromatic mushrooms also taste delicious in scrambled eggs or in an omelet. To ensure that the sensitive mushrooms do not lose their characteristic taste, you should follow our tips when cleaning and slicing.
Mushrooms should not be skinned before slicing
Never wash mushrooms
This includes, for example, that the mushrooms should never be washed - after all, they are not called "mushrooms" for nothing in southern Germany and Austria. Like all mushrooms, button mushrooms contain a lot of water, which is why they shrink a lot during cooking. You are probably familiar with this effect: only a small portion for two people remains after frying a large bucket of freshly collected mushrooms. If you wash mushrooms before preparation, they just absorb more water - and lose both their aroma and their bite, they become "spongy" and rather rubbery in consistency.
Clean mushrooms properly - Here's how
Instead, mushrooms (like all other mushrooms, by the way) should always be cleaned when they are dry. But how do you get them really clean if they are dirty? Grinding between the teeth when eating the mushroom pan is not necessarily desirable, after all, nobody wants to eat soil or substrate. There are different ways to do this.
When should you skin mushrooms?
Perhaps you too have learned or seen that mushrooms are skinned - i.e. the fine skin is removed from the hat. In fact, this is an effective means of cleaning heavily soiled mushrooms, but has the disadvantage that many nutrients - which are located directly under or in the skin - are also lost in the process. It is therefore best not to pull off the skin, or only when the mushrooms are really very dirty or don't look that fresh anymore due to numerous bruises.
Clean with a brush
Instead, just grab a clean brush. Special brushes for cleaning mushrooms are commercially available, but a simple, thick bristle brush will do the trick. Clean it thoroughly with water beforehand and then let it dry thoroughly. The brush hairs should not be coarse, but rather soft. Mushrooms are very sensitive and quickly develop unsightly bruises. Finally, use the brush to remove the coarsest dirt.
Clean with kitchen paper
If there is any dirt left after this, you can remove it by carefully rubbing it with a kitchen towel. Soft paper towels are best for this, but you should use them dry and never moisten them. By the way, mushrooms should always be cleaned individually.
How to cut mushrooms
Once the mushrooms are cleaned, you can cut them. The best way to do this is as follows:
- Remove any bruises with the kitchen knife
- remove dried cuttings on the stem
- skin/peel only if very dirty
- Cut mushrooms as desired with a sharp paring knife
- they can be sliced, halved or quartered
tips
Use fresh mushrooms if possible. You can recognize this by the fact that the slats are still or mostly closed.