Boletus (or porcini mushroom) is a particularly valuable product that is used in cooking for preparing a variety of dishes. It can be not only cooked, marinated and fried, but also dried raw, and then added to the first and second courses. The basic rules for soaking boletus mushrooms, a simple recipe for mushroom soup, as well as information on how to cook dried porcini mushrooms, is discussed later in the article.
How to dunk
If dried boletus mushrooms are used for cooking, then they must be soaked before cooking. In preparation for drying, porcini mushrooms are not washed in water, so dust and dirt remain on their surface, which, over time, are absorbed into the pulp. They can be removed only with the help of a good soaking of the product, as a result of which the fruiting bodies swell, and the dust settled on them is washed out by the liquid.
There are such methods of soaking dry boletus:
- in clean cold water - often used if fruiting bodies are not very contaminated;
- in saline - in 0.5 l of liquid, half a tablespoon of salt is dissolved and boletus is poured for deeper dust removal;
- in warm milk - it penetrates deep into the pulp, cleansing it of small grains of sand.
Dried mushrooms are put in a deep enameled or glass bowl and filled with liquid so that it completely covers the mushrooms.
How much to soak
With different methods of drying raw fruit bodies, their flesh has an uneven density, so it takes a different amount of time to get it wet.
The duration of soaking dried mushrooms before cooking depends on how the product was dried:
- mushrooms dried in the sun or in a warm room have a more delicate pulp, so it is enough to soak them for 30 minutes or 1 hour;
- if drying was carried out in an oven at a low temperature, it is recommended that the dry product be kept in liquid for about 2–4 hours;
- mushrooms, dried as a result of a sharp exposure to high temperature, have a particularly hard flesh, so it is better to soak them overnight.
Soaked dried mushrooms should be checked periodically to understand how much more they need to be kept in the liquid. As soon as the mushrooms swell and become soft to the touch, they are used for cooking.
Important! When soaking, the dimensions of dried porcini mushrooms increase several times, therefore, for the preparation of one dish, it is recommended to take no more than one handful of the product.
How to cook
Pre-soaked porcini mushrooms cook no more than 30-40 minutes, laying them in boiling water. The readiness of the product is determined visually - when the fruiting bodies sink to the bottom of the pan, they can be pulled out of boiling water and eat.
Dried porcini mushrooms are often used to make a fragrant and hearty soup. At the same time, it is recommended to soak the product in ordinary cold water, which after use can be filtered and taken as a broth for a future dish.
To cook soup from dried porcini mushrooms you need from the following ingredients:
- dried mushrooms - 50 g;
- potatoes - 6 pcs.;
- large onion - 1 pc.;
- large carrots - 1 pc.;
- cream (20%) - 100 ml;
- water - 3 l;
- fresh parsley - 1 bunch;
- cooking oil for frying;
- salt, spices - to taste.
Did you know? In 1961, a white fungus weighing about 10 kg was discovered in Russia. The diameter of his hat was 58 cm.
A step-by-step cooking algorithm is presented below:
- Soak the mushrooms in water so that they swell. After this, put the mushrooms in a separate bowl, and strain the resulting liquid and drain into a separate container.
- Wash greens, peel vegetables. Heat a pan with vegetable oil on a stove.
- Chop the onion in half rings. Grate carrots on a coarse grater. Cut the potatoes into small pieces. Finely chop the greens.
- Boil soup water on a stove. Add potatoes to it. Cooking is done until the root crop is ready.
- Lightly fry the carrots in hot oil.
- Add onion, mix. Fry for a few more minutes.
- Add porcini mushrooms to vegetables. Then pour water in which the fruit bodies were soaked. Fry the mushrooms until the liquid evaporates.
- Pour cream into the pan with vegetables and mushrooms, sprinkle the mass with herbs. Stir all the ingredients, remove the pan from the heat.
- Add the resulting frying to the soup pot. Stir, bring to a boil and remove the container from the stove.
Dried porcini mushrooms completely retain their original taste and unique forest aroma, and they can be stored much longer than a fresh product. Using the presented step-by-step recipe, you can quickly cook mushroom soup, diversifying your daily diet with a tasty and satisfying dish.
