We think of them as vegetables but mushrooms fall into a completely different classification — they are fungus (fungi is the plural). And because of that, they are nutritionally different than vegetables and other plant foods in some fascinating ways.

Mushrooms, the fruiting bodies of fungi (in the same way that tomatoes are the fruiting body of the tomato plant), are unique in that they are not animal, vegetable or mineral. Mushrooms contain some compounds such as chitin (pronounced ki-tin), beta glucans, which is a complex sugar molecule (also found abundantly in oats and is the compound responsible for their cholesterol lowering effect), and glycoproteins that are not readily available elsewhere. These substances may account for some of the health-producing properties of mushrooms and their positive nutrition profile: low in calories, higher in protein than most vegetables, sufficient fiber, a wide array of minerals and plenty of B vitamins.

The fiber chitin is also found in the exoskeletons of crustaceans (which nobody eats, we hope). A few years ago there was a product on the market called Chitosan, which supposedly helped block the absorption of the fat that you ate. I don’t know if it worked but mushrooms do help fill you up and provide a wealth of culinary possibilities.

Most importantly for me, the taste, and often texture, of mushrooms make them incredibly appealing. (My husband would disagree, and that’s OK because there are more for me.) The most common mushroom is the white button (agaricus bisporus) mushroom which does not have much flavor but does add body to vegetarian foods. The crimini or brown mushroom contains less water than the white and therefore has better flavor. The portabella is just a bigger crimini and it makes a great “burger” when marinated and baked or grilled. There are also other cultivated “wild”mushrooms such as oyster, shiitake and maitake, to name just a few. 

Cooking with Mushrooms

Mushrooms are a great addition to soups, stews, stir-fries, side dishes, veggie burgers and loaves. All the mushroom experts that I’ve spoken with recommend fully cooking your mushrooms to help make them more digestible. The main nutritional components of mushrooms are water soluble and are most easily digested in soups, stews and dishes that use liquid that you consume.

Mushrooms usually contain quite a bit of water and need to be cooked thoroughly. If using mushrooms in a sauté, be sure to cook them until they release their liquid and start to brown which is when the flavor is most predominant. The less flavorful mushrooms, white button, crimini and oyster, are easily combined with other ingredients, while the more flavorful such as shiitake, portabella and porcini (wild mushrooms) can overpower a dish if you use too many. If you adore the flavor and have access to them (they tend to be more expensive than the others), use them as you wish. If fresh shiitake, porcini or other wild mushrooms aren’t available, you can use dried.  You can add the dried form directly to very soupy, longer-cooked dishes, or you can rehydrate them by pouring boiling water over them and then use them. Save the flavorful soaking water to use in the dish you are cooking, for stock or for other savory dishes.

When buying fresh mushrooms, look for those that are firm, not at all slimy, blemish free and with gills that are mostly closed. Do not store them in plastic as they need to breathe. I store them in paper bags with room around them in my vegetable drawer for a few days. If they get slimy or develop any mold, throw them away.

There is big debate over cleaning mushrooms. Since they usually grow in wet environments, I believe that they can be washed but should not be left soaking in water. Even if they look clean, they can have hidden dirt. And it’s best to purchase organic mushrooms when possible. Finding them in the wild, away from the road, almost ensures that.

Mushroom Cultivation and Hunting

The mushroom growth cycle is very interesting and if you want to read more about it you can look at the website for Fungi Perfecti or read Paul Stamets’ book, Mycelium Running. On the site you can buy mushroom kits which will provide fresh mushrooms at your fingertips, or in my case in the tub in my spare bathroom (for more about this you have to read page 6 of my cookbook The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment).

If you are lucky enough to live in an area where mushrooms grow abundantly in the wild, I suggest that you join a mushroom club and learn to hunt for them. Mushroom hunting is great fun, even when the mushrooms refuse to be found as you get to be outdoors, usually in a beautiful forested area.

Once you feel confident enough to identify a handful of easy-to-know edibles you can often find them. Recently I was returning from an incredible trip to Mendocino, CA and had to stop on the way home as the driver’s brake light came on. A couple of people in the group wandered away and came back with a report that there were mushrooms on a log. They sent me to investigate. When I returned, I had a large handful of freshly picked oyster mushrooms. The rest of the group voiced their concern about eating them but I thoroughly enjoyed them, eating them in 2 batches so that if the first one didn’t make me sick or kill me (only kidding), then I could eat the rest. They made 2 fine meals. My sister had a similar experience finding mushrooms in Maryland where last winter she picked many pounds of oyster mushrooms in a park near her home when the weather was warm. But do NOT pick what you don’t know. Always seek advice before eating wild mushrooms if you don’t have experience.

Medicinal Benefits

Beyond their taste, mushrooms can be used and eaten for their medicinal qualities. Briefly, oyster mushrooms have been shown to lower cholesterol while shiitake and maitake mushrooms help boost your immune system, with shiitake showing promise in protecting against cancer, too. I believe that all mushrooms deliver beneficial effects but they must be cooked or processed. Even the standard white button mushroom contains beneficial antioxidants.

Some medicinal mushrooms such as Reishi, Cordyceps and Turkey Tail (coriolus or trametes versicolor) are not edible because they are too tough. They must be taken in supplement form, either as tablets, capsules or as tea or a heat processed liquid tincture. Even my husband, the mushroom hater, takes mushroom capsules for his immune system.

In the winter, I take mushroom products, as well as eating as many as I can hunt or buy, at least once each week. If I feel like I am getting sick with a cold, I will make a broth into which I put shiitake mushrooms, hot peppers, ginger, garlic and lots of greens, such as kale, and then stirring in miso at the end of cooking. After having this restorative broth, I usually feel more energized and often avoid illness from its use. (At least that’s what I like to think.)

One of my Santa Rosa Junior College students, Noriko Shoji, told me that in her native Japan people eat mushrooms as food and don’t really think of them as medicine. “We like shiitake, shimeji (a type of oyster mushroom) and enoki. We eat them because they taste good.” And maybe that’s reason enough for you to eat them, too.

©2007, The Veggie Queen™, Jill Nussinow, MS, RD

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