Delicious Japanese Mushrooms for Everyday Cooking
Mushrooms are available all year round and are a must-have for adding flavor and texture to Japanese dishes. While shiitake is popular, there are plenty of other Japanese mushrooms to try! In this post, I’ll introduce common mushrooms that are tasty and perfect for everyday cooking!
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Common Mushrooms in Japan
When you visit a Japanese grocery store, you’ll notice a wide variety of mushrooms on display. It’s said that Japan has over 100 types of edible mushrooms! Here are some of the most popular ones we often use in everyday dishes like miso soup, stir-fries, and tempura.
Shiitake (椎茸)
Shiitake is probably the most well-known Japanese mushroom! It has a thick, chewy texture and works beautifully in all kinds of dishes. Dried shiitake is also widely used to make a rich, plant-based dashi stock.. (Check out some of my favorite shiitake mushroom recipes!)
Shimeji (しめじ)
These small, clustered mushrooms have a firm texture and hold their shape nicely when cooked. They’re great in mixed rice, pasta, or miso soup.
Maitake (舞茸)
Maitake has a soft, delicate texture and can easily be broken into small pieces by hand. It’s especially tasty in tempura, but also works great in stir-fries, soups, and rice dishes.
Eringi (エリンギ)
Also known as king oyster mushrooms, eringi are thick, meaty, and chewy—perfect as a plant-based meat substitute. One of the best ways to enjoy them is a teriyaki mushroom rice bowl!
Enoki (えのき茸)
Enoki mushrooms are easy to recognize by their white, slender stems. They have a crisp texture, and when cooked, they turn soft and chewy.
Hiratake (平茸)
Hiratake mushrooms, similar to shimeji, have a small dent in the center of their cap. Like shimeji, they’re perfect for soups and stir-fries.”
Easy Ways to Cook Japanese Mushrooms
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We enjoy making takikomi gohan often, and the three varieties of fresh mushrooms we use all together are shimeji, shiitake and hiratake. All three are available at an Asian market near us.
I also use locally available fresh enoki mushrooms to make nametake. Nametake is easy to make as the ingredients common. Besides the enokis, the ingredients are just soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar and rice vinegar. The local Asian grocery has an excellent brand of mirin from Taiwan.
When making fried rice, one of the ingredients is either chopped shiitake or chopped hiratake.
I can’t find fresh nameko locally, but occasionally I find canned nameko. Nameko is a good ingredient in misoshiru.
So there you have it. Delicious and healthy mushrooms play a major role in our diet.
Thanks for sharing! I’m so glad to hear you can find all those delicious mushrooms at your local market and really enjoy them. Love that!