.The Shimeji should always be cooked, it is not a good mushroom to serve raw. When raw this mushroom has a somewhat bitter taste; the bittereness disappears completely upon cooking. The cooked mushroom has a pleasant, firm, slightly crunchy texture and a delicious slightly nutty flavor. Cooking also makes this mushroom easier to digest. Can you eat shimeji mushrooms raw? Shimeji should always be cooked: it is not a good mushroom to serve raw due to a somewhat bitter taste, but the bitterness disappears completely upon cooking. Cooking also makes this mushroom easier to digest. It works well in stir-fried foods, as well as with wild game or seafood.

Hypsizygus tessellatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Lyophyllaceae
Genus:	Hypsizygus
Species:
Binomial name
*Hypsizygus tesselatus* (Bull.) Singer (1947)^[1]
Synonyms
Hypsizygus marmoreusPeck^[2] Pleurotus elongatipes(Peck) H.E.Bigelow^[2]

Hypsizygus tesselatus (Buna shimeji) is an edible mushroom^[2] native to East Asia. It is cultivated locally in temperate climates in Europe, North America and Australia and sold fresh in super markets. In nature, shimeji are gilled mushrooms that grow on wood. Most often the mushroom is found on beech trees, hence the common name, beech mushroom. They are often small and thin in appearance and popular in many nations across the world.^[3]

Two variations are known:

Buna-shimeji (ja:ブナシメジ), Hypsizigus tessellatus, (Brown Beech Mushroom , Beech Mushroom, BeechBrown Clamshell Mushroom);
Bunapi-shimeji (ja:ブナピー), (White Beech Mushroom, White Clamshell Mushroom); bunapi was selected from buna-shimeji and registered by Hokto Corporation.

Cooking[edit]

Being tough when raw,^[4] the Shimeji should be cooked, having a bitter taste when raw which disappears completely upon cooking. The cooked mushroom has a firm, slightly crunchy texture and a nutty flavor. Preparation makes the mushroom easier to digest. It is often eaten with stir-fried foods including wild game and seafood. It is used in soups, stews and sauces. When prepared alone, Shimeji mushrooms can be sautéed as a whole, including the stem or stalk (only the very end cut off), using a higher temperature; or, they can be slow roasted on a low temperature with a small amount of butter or cooking oil. Shimeji is used in soups, nabe and takikomi gohan.

Gallery[edit]

Wild species. (Japan.)
Bunapi (Hokto Ltd. develops)

References[edit]

^http://www.mycobank.org/name/Hypsizygus%20tessulatus&Lang=Eng
^ ^a^b^cMiller Jr., Orson K.; Miller, Hope H. (2006). North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Guilford, CN: FalconGuide. p. 156. ISBN978-0-7627-3109-1.
^'Brown Beech Mushroom - Hypsizygus Tesselatus.' Brown Beech Mushroom - Hypsizygus Tesselatus. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2014.
^Phillips, Roger (2010). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. p. 238. ISBN978-1-55407-651-2.

External links[edit]

Honshimeji Mushroom, RecipeTips.com. Brown Beech (Buna shimeji), White Beech (Bunapi shimeji), and the Pioppino (Agrocybe aegerita) mushrooms.
Bunashimeji and Bunapi, Hokuto Corporation.

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hypsizygus_tessellatus&oldid=1020794260'

*We may earn a commission for purchases made using our links. Please see our disclosure for more information.

Shimeji mushrooms … difficult to pronounce but delicious to eat. Their deep umami flavor and wide versatility in cooking make up for the initial challenge of trying to pronounce the name of these wonderful mushrooms.

A Little Background

Native to eastern Asia, shimeji mushrooms are in fact not one type of mushroom but a group of edible mushrooms with more than 20 varieties. They have long stems and tiny round caps. The three most common types used in Japanese food are bunapi-shimeji, buna-shimeji, and hon-shimeji.

Hon-shimeji is challenging to grow but the other two are currently cultivated extensively in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe.

You may know shimeji mushrooms by their more common name “beech mushrooms” – referred to in this way due to the fact that they typically grow on fallen beech trees. The buna shimeji mushroom is known as the brown beech or brown clamshell mushroom, whereas the bunapi shimeji is called the white beech or white clamshell mushroom.

They are also found growing in northern Europe where they are referred to as pioppino mushrooms. Check out the article The Best Way To Cook Pioppino Mushrooms on this site for links to recipes with an Italian twist.

What Are The Health Benefits of Shimeji Mushrooms

Shimeji mushrooms are a superb source of nutrients but must be cooked in order for us to be able to access their nutrients.

Buna-shimeji or the brown beech mushroom provides a significant source of B vitamins (pantothenic Acid, riboflavin, and thiamin), as well as potassium, zinc, and copper. They are low in calories and fat, and are high in dietary fiber and protein. They’re cholesterol-free and sodium-free. They also contain beta-glucans which boost immunity and may help fight cancer.

A study conducted in Japan concluded that beech mushrooms (along with maitake and king trumpet) help lower plaque deposits in the arteries.

Lastly, shimeji mushrooms contain glutamic acid, guanylic acid, and aspartic acid, which are the sources of their umami flavors.

I explain more about umami in this article Umami Flavor: Your Guide To Making Your Own With Mushrooms.

Where Can I Buy Shimeji Mushrooms?

Readily available year-round now, shimeji mushrooms are commonly sold in a cluster in a sealed cellophane bag.

You have the very best chance of locating them at an Asian supermarket, although with the increasing popularity of mushrooms in general, stores such as Whole Foods might also carry them.

Do I Need To Wash Shimeji Mushrooms?

Commercially grown shimeji mushrooms are generally kept quite clean when growing. So all you need to do in order to prepare them for cooking is cut off the base of the cluster, separate the stems, and gently rinse them.

Can I Eat Them Raw?

Shimeji mushrooms tend to have a bitter taste when raw so eating them that way is not recommended. Cooking improves the taste, taking away the bitterness and leaving in its place a mild nutty flavor with a lightly sweet taste. Cooking them also increases the bioavailability of the nutrients and the ease with which they can be digested.

What Are The Differences Between The White And The Brown Beech Mushrooms?

There is a slight difference in the taste of the white beech vs. the brown beech mushrooms. The brown ones have a more intense “mushroomy“ or umami taste, whereas the white ones tend to have a slightly sweeter taste when cooked.

How To Use Shimeji Mushrooms

Use these delicious mushrooms in all the same dishes you’d use white button, oyster, enoki, or cremini mushrooms. They go well with stir-fries, noodle bowls, soups, omelets, and stews. I love combining several types of mushrooms in one dish to get even more mushroom goodness and umami flavor.

Why not add them to a mushroom broth? Check out this delicious recipe for The Ultimate Comfort Food: Medicinal Mushroom Broth.

How To Eat Shimeji Mushrooms

Shimeji really

Shimeji Mushrooms Raw