Mushrooms
Dried Enoki MushroomsWhite and Brown Enoki: Drying Time, Storage and a Clear Soup
Enoki are cheap and available all year, which makes them a good first mushroom to dry.
Drying concentrates their savory flavor, and they make a good broth in soups. They’re thin and dry easily; on sunny days they’re crisp in about 2 days.
| Drying time | Storage | |
|---|---|---|
| Dry | 2–3 days | 3 weeks at room temperature |
| Semi-dried | Half a day–1 day | 5 days in the fridge |
Drying times assume drying during the day in sunny weather and bringing them in at night.
How to dry enoki
- Keep the base: Don’t cut off the spongy base; dry them in clumps. They don’t fall apart and are easier to handle. Cut the base off when you use them.
- Loosen: Tear the bunch into 4–5 clumps by hand, and loosen the base a little so air can reach inside.
- Lay out and dry: Spread on a basket without overlapping, somewhere sunny and breezy. Bring them in by evening.
Where and when to dry is covered in How to Dry Vegetables, and tools in Tools for Drying Vegetables.
When they’re done
Dry (2–3 days)
They’re done when they’ve shrunk thin, turned light brown, and snap when pinched. The bundled part at the base dries last, so check there. In good weather, ours were completely dry in 2 days.
Semi-dried (half a day–1 day)
The surface is dry and they’re limp. In stir-fries or pan-fried with butter and soy sauce, they don’t get watery and taste richer.
Day by day
Before drying
Day 1
Day 2
Brown enoki
Brown enoki are a cultivated variety bred to be closer to wild enoki, which are brown. They have slippery brown caps and brownish stems, with more aroma and crunch than white enoki.
They’re dried, and keep, just like white enoki.
Semi-dried
Day by day
Before drying
Day 1
Day 2
Storage
- Dry: Put completely dry enoki in a bag or airtight container with a desiccant, and keep somewhere cool and out of direct sun for about 3 weeks. In humid summer weather, keep them in the fridge.
- Semi-dried: Keep in a bag in the fridge and use within about 5 days.
- Frozen: Both dry and semi-dried can be frozen for 2–3 months.
Fuzzy white or green growth, black spots or a bad smell are signs of mold or spoilage. Don’t eat them; throw them away. More in How to Store Dried Vegetables.
Rehydrating and using them
- Always cook them: Never eat mushrooms raw. Always cook them first.
- Use them dry: Cut off the base, rinse quickly, and add straight to miso soup, clear soup, hot pot or other soups. They soften as they cook and release a good broth.
- Rehydrate: For stir-fries or dressed side dishes, soak in water for about 5 minutes.
- Good in: Clear soup, miso soup, nametake (enoki simmered in soy sauce), stir-fries, mixed rice.
Recipe
Clear soup with dried enoki
- Dried enoki from ½ pack
- 400 ml (about 1⅔ cups) water
- A pinch of salt
- A dash of soy sauce
- 4 dried green beans (optional)
- Cut the base off the dried enoki, cut them in half for easy eating, and rinse quickly. Rinse the dried green beans too.
- Put the water and step 1 in a pot and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.
- Once a good broth has formed, season with salt and add a dash of soy sauce for aroma.
Even without making dashi, the savory flavor of dried enoki alone makes a delicious clear soup. See also dried green beans.
