Porcini mushroom belongs to the first category mushrooms and is a delicacy even in fastidious Europe, where, for example, no boletus and boletus mushrooms are picked, considering them inedible. Porcini mushrooms are harvested, including the industrial way, so in the store you can buy them in fresh, dry or frozen form. To preserve the taste and aroma of these forest beauties, you need to cook them correctly.
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Useful properties of porcini mushrooms
The porcini mushroom consists of almost 90% water, but in the remaining "dry residue" it represents a solid benefit. It has a lot of easily digestible proteins in the human body and essential amino acids, carbohydrates and glycogen are present. The pulp of the porcini mushroom contains the alkaloid herzedin, used to treat heart diseases, as well as riboflavin, which is necessary for the normal functioning of the thyroid gland, the health of nails and hair. Porcini mushrooms have the highest amount of B vitamins, they also contain minerals, phosphates and potassium salts.
Features of cooking porcini mushrooms
This is one of the few types of mushrooms that do not darken on the cut, so the broth of them remains light. If the porcini mushroom is intended for frying, it is not necessary to boil it first. They are harvested in salted and pickled form, frozen fresh, but most often dried. Dried porcini mushrooms are the quintessence of mushroom taste and aroma; soup from them is more saturated than from freshly cooked ones. How much and how to cook porcini mushrooms depends on whether you are going to cook from fresh or dried mushrooms.
Saturated broth cooked on porcini mushrooms can be poured into silicone molds, frozen and then stored as a semi-finished product in a freezer.
How to cook porcini mushrooms
Loose fresh porcini mushrooms and cut off the ends of the legs. If there are areas affected by the worms, they can be cut off, but it is better to soak the prepared mushrooms in salted cold water for half an hour, after which the worms will escape by themselves. Small mushrooms can be cooked by cutting them in half or whole, large ones need to be cut into pieces.
After that, dip the mushrooms in boiling salted water and wait for the moment to boil, because after this intensive foam formation will begin, and the foam will need to be constantly removed. After the broth boils, the fire should be reduced and time should be noted. From the moment of boiling, the mushrooms should cook for 35-40 minutes, not more.
Water in which dried porcini mushrooms have been soaked can also be used to make mushroom sauces and gravy.
In the case when you want to cook dried porcini mushrooms, they should first be soaked in boiling water and left, covered with a lid, for 3-4 hours. After that, they must be poured into boiling water together with the water in which they were soaked. In this case, there will be no more foam in the pan, so after the water boils again, reduce the heat and cook the mushrooms for 30-35 minutes. Spices, except salt and bay leaf, are not put in the mushroom broth so as not to “interrupt” its natural aroma.
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