Shimeji

Shimeji

What it is

The proverb runs kaori matsutake, aji shimeji — matsutake for the scent, shimeji for the flavour — but the shimeji it praises is the wild honshimeji, which nobody has learned to farm properly. What fills the chiller is buna-shimeji, a beech-wood species grown since the 1970s that inherited the older name.

In the kitchen

Raw it is bitter, and it stays bitter if you stew it; the bitterness only leaves under real heat. Break the clump into single stems, get the pan smoking, and give it five minutes without stirring.

Goes with

Soy sauce Butter Garlic Junmai sake Hon-mirin Negi Chicken Toasted sesame oil

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us