Perfect Sauteed Mushrooms
Perfect Sautéed Mushrooms
Equipment
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Frying Pan, with Lid
- Stove Top
Ingredients
- 300 Grams Mushrooms (9 oz)
- 1 Pinch Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Butter or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Clove Garlic (minced)
Instructions
- Wash your mushrooms under running water.
- Cut them into slices or chunks, however you prefer them.
- Put them into a large skillet or flying pan. Don’t worry if the pan is overcrowded. The mushrooms will cook down as the water evaporates.
- Add a pinch of salt, and put on a lid on the pan.
- Cook over high heat for about 5 minutes.
- Remove the lid. The mushrooms should have shriveled up and cooking in a pool of their own juice.
- Keep cooking and stirring occasionally, until about 75% of the liquid has evaporated. About another 5 minutes.
- Add some butter or olive oil for sautéing. About 1 tablespoon should be enough, but add more if needed.
- Lower the heat and continue to stir the mushrooms so they don’t burn.
- Cook until all the liquid is gone.
- Add the minced garlic and cook until lightly brown and fragment. About 2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat.
Notes
A Room with No Doors
I’ve never cared much for mushrooms. What I’ve come to discover is that it’s not the mushroom that rubs me the wrong way. Rather it’s that far too many people, including professionals, don’t use them correctly. They are either soggy/spongy when they should firmer, or they are too firm when you need to be soft and floppy. I’ve always had a hard time using mushrooms at home in my own kitchen. It goes with out saying that sauteed mushrooms have never worked out well for me.
This is why I hated caramelizing mushrooms. Not because it’s hard or that I don’t like the dish. I hated them because they never came out right. Tried as I may, they were always lacked the right consistency, and never tasted like the ones I’ve in restaurants.
One Simple Trick
That all changed when I discovered that I was preparing mushrooms the completely wrong way. I’d always been taught to avoid getting mushrooms wet, as they soak up the water, and won’t crisp up. Well, that’s partially true.
Mushrooms do soak up liquid, but washing them won’t hinder sautéing them. Think about the normal way most people are taught to sauté. Put the mushrooms in a pan and add your fat right away.
What happens? The mushrooms suck up all the fat, be it oil or butter, in the pan. It makes them soggy, as well being calorie bombs.
So, the trick is to prevent that from happening to begin with. By cooking the mushrooms until all the moister is just about gone, we’ve made them resistant. So, the fat will coat the mushrooms, rather than being absorbed like a sponge.
The end result, you will use a lot less fat, get more flavor, and a far superior end product. It’s win-win!
Magical Sauteed Mushrooms
If you’re having a hard time picking out mushrooms, don’t feel bad. There are many types of mushrooms out there. If you want to achieve the best results when sautéing, use white button mushrooms. Those are mushrooms in all the pictures here You can use crimini mushroom; the darker skinned brethren of the white button mushrooms. Both types should be easy enough to find in your local supermarket.
As for prepping them, slicing works fine enough. You can also cut them into chunks, which will give the dish a little more bite. I tend to go back and forth on the cutting style, depending on my mood.
One last thing, be careful not to burn the garlic. There is a fine line between tasty and bitter garlic, the latter will result from cooking it too long. If your garlic is starting to blacken, or worse, it’s not going to taste very good. That’s why it’s recommended to add it at the very end, giving it just about 2 minutes to roast.
These sauteed mushrooms pair amazing well with these luscious Pork Chops.
You need epic music to make these mushrooms. Put it on repeat!