Oyster Mushrooms
Posted by andini on Jun 07, 2010 · Member since Aug 2009 · 49 posts
Is it just the stores I've seen them at or are oyster mushrooms really expensive? I want to try them so bad, and they keep popping up in recipes and on blogs, but I haven't been able to take the plunge and buy them.
Same with morels...expensive no matter where you are? I feel like my mushroom experience has been limited to portabellos and the common white mushroom! I want to expand!
Yeah, oysters, shiitake, chanterelles, and morels grow much better wild, so they're a lot more expensive. I've found cheaper oyster mushrooms at the Asian grocer, but not perfect quality - they were fine grilled with a little olive oil and garlic, but I wouldn't have eaten them raw.
Oyster mushrooms aren't all that more expensive here in Spain, and the difference in flavour and texture makes them worth the difference in price! We don't have all the different shrooms y'all have there, so I go for oysters when I can get em.
Trouble is here they are also very seasonal. Right now it's too hot, they aren't available. Next to them the common button mushroom is insipid and uninteresting.
Yeah, I was shocked at how cheap oyster mushrooms are in germany, too. They're totally worth it though. I have yet to try morels. I would love to try those, but I've only seen the dehydrated ones. Are those still good?
Not as good as fresh, obviously, but still infinitely more interesting than a button mushroom. They're a bit tricky to use in a recipe, though, since they've lost some of their ability to stand on their own flavour-wise, but would still be overwhelmed by strong spicing. Soaked in white wine and sauteed with garlic and olive oil might be a good place to start. Use the soaking water as the base of a sauce/stock or to cook rice.
All of the mushrooms at the grocery store that I go to almost all of the time are the same price. It doesn't matter if it's portabello, white button, shittake, oyster or organic. The price for regular white button mushrooms is the exact same price as organic shittake mushrooms. The only ones that are cheaper are pre-sliced white button mushrooms....pretty flavorless in my opinion.
That is the weirdest thing... who would want white mushrooms when they could get shiitakes for the same price?
That is the weirdest thing... who would want white mushrooms when they could get shiitakes for the same price?
Exactly what I thought. Not only are they shiitake but they're also organic!
here oyster mushrooms are 3-6 dollars a pound, about the same as shiitake. At whole foods though, all the non-button mushrooms are way more expensive (and not as fresh!).
I never use button mushrooms. The lowest I go is cremini mushrooms. Check your local Asian market for cheaper oyster, trumpet and shiitake mushrooms