Cooking with Matsutake Mushrooms
Dec 14th, 2009 | By Hank | Category: Asian, Foraging, Italian | Comments | 13 Comments |
After having never even knowing of their existence for the first 30 years of my life, I’ve recently been cooking with matsutake mushrooms a lot. I got a great price on a batch from Oregon, and I’d already bought some dried ones. After cooking with them fresh and dried for several weeks, I now feel qualified to talk a bit about this magical mushroom.
Pine mushrooms, as they are also called, are as large as a porcini but even firmer. They are a ghostly golden-white, and are often covered with piney schmutz (a technical term) that either should or should not be wiped off, depending on whom you talk to; I pick off gritty bits and only gently wipe the mushroom with a damp paper towel.
What you see pictured above is a top-quality matsutake. You can tell because it has a veil still attached to the stem. This veil breaks as the mushroom ages. From an eating standpoint, the quality loss is all in aroma — but it is also in the mushroom’s health benefits, if you believe in that sort of thing. Strong scientific evidence suggests that eating lots of matsutakes can reduce or inhibit the growth of tumors (if you happen to have any) and that they are a powerful scrubber of the sort of “free radicals” that can lead to cancer (and anarchy).
Ah, the aroma of a matsutake. The famous descriptor is from David Arora, who wrote the bible on North American mushrooms, Mushrooms Demystified. Arora describes the smell of a matsutake as a combination of wet socks and red hots — red hots being a once-popular cinnamon candy, for anyone not familiar with them.
Keep in mind matsutake mushrooms are firm and meat-like in texture. Which leads me to my recent rant: Chef Kevin Gillespie was totally robbed in the Top Chef finale, partly because his judges — famous restaurateurs all — apparently do not understand that matsutake mushrooms must be cooked lightly and must be served firm, not soft. You should not be able to cut them easily with a fork, fer chrissakes!
Gillespie served his matsutake sliced thickly, beautifully crosshatched (nice technique!) and grilled with some sort of basting sauce. Exactly! (I shouted at this at the TV. And yes, I arm-chair quarterback Top Chef the way I do with football…) The eventual winner, Michael Voltaggio, destroyed his matsutake by shaving them so thin the aroma would be lost – and it is the aroma that makes a matsutake worth $100 or more in Japan.
Japanese cooks are the undisputed masters of matsutake mushroom cookery. Most of what I know about this mushroom is from researching Japanese methods and recipes. The Japanese revere matsutake, and treat them like the special ingredients they are — even at wholesale here in California, the price rarely goes below $15 a pound.
Last week I bought five pounds of fresh matsutakes from Joseph Daugherty in Oregon (I was tickled to find out the rest of the batch sent to me went to Thomas Keller’s Per Se restaurant in New York!) and began experimenting.
I started simple — and, oddly, European. Most of my cooking is Mediterranean, and I wanted to see how matsutakes translated into this sort of cooking. So I coated the matsutakes in olive oil, salted them and skewered them on rosemary branches, then broiled them — it was raining out, otherwise I would have grilled them.
They were delicious. Still firm, still smelling of cinnamon and pine, with just a little caramelization on either side. The Japanese grill their matsutakes simply this way, too, only using shoyu and mirin. Lesson learned: Don’t mess with these mushrooms too much, or you will lose what makes them special.
Next I made a traditional dish, matsutake gohan, or rice with matsutake. This is by far the most common matsutake dish on the internet, and for good reason. I used broken pieces and chopped them up, then laid them out on top of rice in a rice cooker to steam as the rice cooked. When the rice was done, I splashed in some rice vinegar and tossed everything together. Big time aromas here.
On top I did a matsutake-only version of the Japanese foil-roasted steelhead with matsutakes I cooked with dried matsutakes two weeks ago. Again, big-time aromas and flavors. Lessons learned: Matsutakes really benefit from a cooking method that traps the aroma, as well as a shot of acid at the end: Rice vinegar in the rice, Meyer lemon juice in the foil-roasted preparation.
The Japanese also use matsutake as an element in the magnificent clear soups they do; the soup is served in a teapot and the mushroom plucked out with chopsticks. I need to try this with a light game broth, like grouse or pheasant. Duck or venison broth would be too heavy. A fresh fish broth would be good, too.
They also tempura-fry their matsutakes, which is an idea I like a lot. Fried mushrooms can be heavy and greasy, but tempura is by definition light and crispy — what’s more, the batter holds in the aroma. That said, I wanted to see how this mushroom translated into European cooking, so I tried a fusion dish:
I dredged the sliced matsutake in sake and dusted them in rice flour. I then fried them in hot olive oil, sprinkling salt on the mushrooms as I turned them. I kept the matsutake in a warm oven while I made a pan sauce: A little more rice flour to soak up the olive oil, then sake to deglaze, then 1/2 cup of rich pheasant broth (you could use chicken). I tossed in a little salt, then minced shallot and 3 minced garlic cloves and let it all boil furiously down by half. I buzzed the sauce in a food processor to smooth it and there you have it. Relatively simple, a little French, yet with a hint of Asian flavors.
This dish rocked the park. The rice flour formed a crust that held in the matsutake steam, the mushrooms were meaty yet light, and the sauce added heft and richness. And isn’t chervil just the prettiest herb? Lesson learned: Everything tastes good fried.
Other preparations await. I plan to braise some matsutakes, put them in a farro or bulgur pilaf, and possibly even puree them. I also have some plans for the dried ones.
The season for fresh matsutakes is winding down; it usually begins in late August or early September, and runs through December. They also can be foraged all over the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, although their high price has caused clashes among amateur and commercial pickers. A relative of the Japanese matsutake lives in the rest of the country, and the matsutakes collected in upstate New York and Michigan are, oddly, genetically closer to the Japanese ones than are the Oregon mushrooms. If you can get your hands on either one, do. It’ll be worth the price.
MORE ON MATSUTAKE:
- Langdon Cook makes Matsutake Gohan on Fat of the Land
- More on Matsutake from The Kitchn
- Matsutake in a Japanese clear soup, by Jaden from Steamy Kitchen
Buy Fresh or Dried Matsutake Online:
My first year cooking them too, and right on, they do have to be treated right or you lose the aroma. They’re expensive and an interesting challenge, sometimes I felt like “What’s all the fuss about?” and others “Wow, these are actually pretty good.” Sadly I didn’t find any while out in the woods this season, next year I’m headed more south around Mt. Rainier to look. But they were running $15-25/lb at the Farmer’s Market, so I picked some up. (Click on my name above for the link)
I made Matsutake Gohan too, but I was unimpressed. Shiitakes would have worked just as well and been a whole lot cheaper. Otherwise it’s quick and easy. Next time I’ll stop being lazy and make up some dashi to cook the rice in though.
The best thing I did with them was a quick steam with clams and leeks, butter and lemon juice. The clam/matsi combo is outstanding, they’ve got almost the same texture and the aromas go really well together.
Tom Douglas has a recipe for Matsutake Dashi (the clear matsi broth) in ‘Seattle Kitchen’. I’m trying that one next year if I find any.
Thanks for the spoiler! In Canada TC ends tonight!!!! Now I know who wins and loses.
Thanks for the excellent course in Matsutake. I saw beautiful specimens at our local Japanese market this weekend but got frightened off by Kevin’s raking over the coals and thought about what a mess *I* would probably make of them. Next time, I’ll grab with confidence. Well, if the price is right too.
Russell: Great idea to match with clams! Now I just need to go dig me some…
Mark: Uh, sorry. Pretty much the entire food world knows the result of Top Chef by now, so reporting the outcome nearly a week later seemed harmless.
Jenny: Grab with gusto! Even one or two good matsutakes will make a memorable appetizer for a dinner party.
I never realized how precious matsutakes are! I’ve eaten them plenty of times in restaurants and never thought twice. I love how the other batch went to Keller and completely agree about Kevin!
I am new to your blog but cannot emphasize how happy I am to have found it and, equally, how impressed I am by your thoroughness. I’m 23, Cambodian, born in Modesto and a recent graduate of UC Davis. As a first generation child of a big immigrant family, many of the meals I had growing up featured wild game and fish we caught and hunted ourselves. Rabbit, duck, quail, frog, deer, trout, catfish, clams, etc. were far more common to our household than beef, chicken, or pork. Many of our vegetables were Asian in origin, grown by ourselves, neighbors, or by local Vietnamese and Hmong farmers.
The older I got the more I realized people don’t eat the way we do. My friends call me a foodie and even though I have made great efforts to know more about the cooking and foods of other cultures, my main interest in gourmet food lies in the best ways to prepare excellent ingredients. I do eventually want to start my own blog and can’t wait to see more gastronomic adventurers from the Central Valley.
P.S. My future comments will not be so long. Just wanted to introduce myself. ^_^
I don’t blame you hank. Ironically, even though Food Network Canada SAID it was supposed to be the last episode tonight, they replayed last weeks episode. So, I’m not sure I feel cheated.
My take on the Top Chef Matsutake Fiasco: I was surprised to see the matsi in the basket, period. Seemed like a red herring to trick the chefs. Matsi is a very unique mushroom and deserves special treatment. If you’re not careful it can overwhelm other ingredients. The problem with Kevin’s dish is he tried to play the matsi off as a sideline rather than the main event. And I do agree he sliced it too thick. Take a look at these photos of matsi from my sukiyaki dish. The Japanese treat it very delicately, even when grilling.
Which brings me to another point. I strongly prefer matsi in Eastern as opposed to western presentations. That singular aroma/flavor does not pair well with cream and butter and other staples of French-style cooking, IMO. Grilling, gohan & sukiyaki are my favorite ways to enjoy it. The simpler the better. Matsi can speak for itself.
Great post, Hank! Good to see you getting deeper into the fungal kingdom. I look forward to our spring porcini & morel adventure.
I could’ve taught you the “lesson learned”! Ii’m an Okie!
I also love just frying them on a super hot hot Himalayan salt plate!
Arica: So happy you like the site! I would really love to hear more about how your family cooks game, too! Most of my experience is through Western cooking, so the more I can learn about Asian techniques the better.
Lang: I agree with you on the “no cream” thing with matsutakes, but not on the “no Western” thing. I found them really, really good with the olive oil, fleur de sel and rosemary skewers — so Italian and I bet Greek would be better routes than French.
I think you are right: the key is simple.
Jaden: OK, so how the hell do I get a Himalayan salt plate? I’ve seen them on Iron Chef and clearly need one…
I’ve been messing with these, too- but maybe with less scientific rigor. I did a Japanese-style clear broth and added both pan-caramelized and raw, shaved matsutake to it with good effect and nice contrast. Broiling them with pine needles and the barest dusting of 5-spice worked really well, though grilling would have been better. I need to get more serious about hunting them myself, since I can only get them in the city for a lot of money.
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Lucy