What do I do with these things? I bought them at Kroger the other day and I have not a clue what to do with them. Actually, I don’t even know if I spelled the title right…
Suggestions?
Dried or fresh? If fresh, clean them like any othger mushroom. If dried, soak them in warm water for half an hour, then rinse them. If you want to get fancy, soak them in a mix of warm water and sherry.
Mince and throw into a soup stock or sauce for noodles. You can also stir them into am omelette, though I’d go light on them until you know you like the taste.
Slice and dice them, and put them in fried rice!
They’re great in hot and sour soup, too!
If dried, after reconstituting with hot water remove any stalks as they get a bit too chewy to enjoy eating.
They are fresh…I think the fried rice idea sounds great!
Thanks guys (or gals)!
Brendon
While on the subject, how do Japanese speakers pronounce Shitaki?
Shit-ake or shi-tak-i or shit-a-ki or something else?
Shi-i-ta-ke
That would be she taw keh
In romanji the last syllable is ke, not ki which makes a difference. The first syllable is shi or alternatly shii which makes no difference, at least to my western ears.
In any event, the first syllable has a long I sound, eliminating anything like ‘shit’ as in caca.
BTW, the more common spelling is shiitake.
And am I correct in my belief that, as cckerberos indicates, it should be pronounced with 4 syllables?
Shiii TA kae.
(Sheeee)
Not taw. TAAaaa. No “aww” sound in there.
In Japanese, where a vowel is doubled it simply extends the sound, it doesn’t form a seperate syllable. Sort of like Good v gooood.
Why, just Eat Shiitake! It combines the light-hearted frivolity of fungus flying with the horror of drowning!
(Sorry, couldn’t resist. Apologies in advance, especially for any confusion this may cause. :D)
Remove the stems and only use the caps. Slice fairly thin and saute. Good stir fried with chicken, veggies, etc.
Indeed it does, Ken. 
[QUOTE=Leaper]
It combines the light-hearted frivolity of fungus flying with the horror of drowning!
[QUOTE]
Huh?
Am I missing out on some wonderful joke here? uh-oh…I have to be! hmm…
drowning, flying, fungus…
still not a clue. Sorry…
Brendon