Premium Grade Dried Shiitake Mushrooms Extra Thick (1 LB.)

Today, I soaked a double handful of these shiitake in warm water. When reconstituted, the inedible shiitake stems were way too embedded to "pinch" off, as one does with fresh shiitakes, so I sliced every mushroom so as to "discard" (I put shiitake stems in a Ziploc in the freezer for mushroom stock) the stems. After slicing a bit more, I had mostly quartered mushrooms. They were tough to the chew. As I was using them in an Instant Pot recipe, I hoped that the IP would tenderize them. No such luck: great umami flavor, but tough. Keep in mind that shiitake, unlike porcini, mushrooms, rarely have any grit associated with them, so, in future, I'm simply going to pulverize my intended shiitakes in the food processor or blender before adding to the dish. These are a really great value, and their umami flavor was delicious, so I will continue to buy them. UPDATE: I did pulverize the rest of the shiitakes in my food processor, and then decided to make stock immediately using the powder and tiny pieces. The result was about 4 quarts of amazing, deeply rich, dark, flavorful shiitake "glop" -- which I mean in a very good way because I wasn't about to strain it: I wanted all of those remaining tiny pieces of umami bombs. I then froze the "glop" in pint and quart Mason jars. I used one of the pints to flavor mac & cheese, which was outrageously delicious. Today I used 1 quart of "glop" to 1 # of split peas for thick soup, and the result was equally delicious. I've been making rich mushroom stock for two decades, and I will no longer require the high expense of buying fresh mushrooms, or expensive tiny bags of porcini, just for stock. As soon as I'm down to 1 pint and 1 quart of shiitake "glop" in my freezer, I'll be amazoning another bag of these mushrooms. Accordingly, I've upgraded my review to 5 stars because, having figured out how to manage them, they're definitely worth it: 5-star flavor and 10-star value!

These beautifully aromatic mushrooms are a must have in every mushroom lovers' pantry.This kind of mushroom is super high in immune boosting nutrients, which is still necessary as we have variants of the Covid virus still popping up.I highly recommend this product for health conscious people who enjoy using their food as their medicine.

I live in Massachusetts north of Boston and in the past I would pick up dried shiitake, along with other ingredients when passing through Boston’s Chinatown. I ran out a few months ago and decided it would be best to order than make a special trip. Green Nutrition offered two grades, “A” and this one, “Premium” for an extra two bucks.With dried shiitake, look for large caps that have cracked open as they dry exposing the white flesh within. They resemble puffed wheat cereal.These are great!! They look like the picture. After soaking, they became very thick as well as pungent. I had a bag delivered to my workplace. Two Chinese born ladies I work with saw them and said they looked better than what they buy in the Asian markets in Boston and Lowell. I ended up ordering two more pounds for them!!I don't do a lot of traditional Asian cooking, but I use shiitake in other recipes. These are KILLER in pot roasts and even coq au vin. For the latter I grind up a couple to boost the flavor of the more traditional button mushrooms.

These are fine but they're pretty thick so sometimes they can't be broken up by hand before rehydrating. I primarily use dried shiitakes in ramen and I normally don't rehydrate them before cooking them since usually the soften in the few minutes the soup cooks in the microwave. These often are still woody when the soup is done even if rehydrated for a few minutes before cooking. That said, these are thick and meaty if that's what you're looking for, so can be good for stir fry's and other uses.

I've bought these mushrooms about 3 times already and they are excellent! They rehydrate into big, luscious mushrooms with an earthy pungent aroma and beautiful pattern on top. They brown easily in the pan and cook up into a silky texture. Yum! They don't smell like chemicals, unlike some dried shiitakes I've bought before. The mushroom soaking liquid is full of flavor and I add a bit of back into the pan whenever I cook the mushrooms. (I find that for many applications -- such as stir-fries and soups --dried shiitakes are interchangeable with fresh, and they have a better flavor than the fresh shiitakes in supermarkets.)A key to the best flavor is a long soak in cold water on the countertop, at least 8 hours. I learned this from Asian cooks. The mushrooms, since they are quite thick, need time to fully rehydrate and soften.Great price for the amount you get, and the bag will last a long time in the freezer. I will continue to buy these until Amazon stops selling them! 😋

Ive purchased dried mushrooms before and felt they were nice to have around however, these are terrible. I’ve tried different ways to hydrate and they are always thick, extremely chewy and definitely not what I expected and the flavor is difficult to describe because they are like chewing on a dense sponge and after chewing for a very long time the mushroom is still intact. I do not recommend

I soaked these and could not get them to moist. Husband disliked the dish they were in and moved them to the side. not sure what to do with the rest of them now.

I did not know that mushrooms can be of the "premium quality' before I got these mushroom. They are better than any dried shitake I bought before, online or in the store. They are meaty and plump when rehydrated. The flavor is nutty and the texture is pleasant. These are very fine mushrooms. I would recommend to rehydrate in cold instead of the hot water. The temperature of the water does influence the taste. I find that rehydrating in cold water brings out more flavor and taste.