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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

Dried Bolete Soy Sauce

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Dried bolete or russula soy sauce_-3

Porcini flavored soy

A while ago I was watching a television program on Netflix where soy sauce was being combined with other ingredients to flavor it. It I remember correctly, dried tomatoes were being steeped in soy, removed, and then a tomato salad was dressed with the tomato flavored soy.

I don’t work with soy much, but I like it. It’s a strong flavor though, so you have to use a light hand. Following that, since the flavor of soy is strong I usually think of using it as a seasoning, so it’s paradigm shifting to think of seasoning soy itself with other flavors. The first thing that came to mind when I thought of what I could flavor soy with was dried Boletes and Russulas. Its really a match made in heaven, I’ll tell you why.

Dried bolete or russula soy sauce_-3

Leccinum subglabripes is another bolete I have used for this, it gave great results too.

Dried boletes are are like secret flavor weapons. They’re widely available, and can be found in massive quantities if you catch them after a heavy rain. The caveat with is that they have often been preyed upon by bugs, and may not be able to cooked fresh.

Luckily, the flavor of the mushrooms intensifies and transforms when dried. So much so that I pretty much dry every one that I find.

Boletes that many people call “subpar” or lackluster when cooked fresh will shock you with their character after a round in the dehydrator, Leccinum species and chicken fat boletes (slippery jacks) are great examples of this.

Dried bolete or russula soy sauce_-3

Pouring soy over mushrooms

 

Dried bolete or russula soy sauce_-3

Tamari brand is an organic and gluten free soy that I like.

Dried bolete or russula soy sauce_-3
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Dried Bolete Soy Sauce

Makes 10 ounces of flavored soy sauce
Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Mushroom Soy

Ingredients

  • 1/2 ounce dried Bolete or Russula mushrooms
  • 1 ten ounce jar of soy sauce

Instructions

  • Combine the dried boletes and soy sauce in an airtight container such as a mason jar. You can also just remove a little soy sauce from the bottle, smash up the dried mushrooms and stuff them right in the original container with the soy, that will work just fine too.
  • Store the jar in the refrigerator and allow it to age for a few months before using, then use anyway you would regular soy sauce

Notes

The high level of salt in the soy will preserve the mushrooms near indefinitely, but if you pour off some of the soy sauce to cook with it, and expose the mushrooms to air borne bacteria, they may begin to mold. A way to get around this is just to put the whole shebang in the blender once the mushrooms are fully rehydrated, this way they will sink to the bottom of the container. You could also just strain the soy off after aging and discard the mushrooms.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hi Alan:

    I find this to be a particularly interesting article (blog post) that helps a forager to make *good use* of mushrooms they might otherwise not see as very valuable. But, there are a good number of points you brought up that you’d probably find helpful to understand about some of the concepts you brought up, which would best be discussed in a forum. I propose that you, I, and others discuss those points at MushroomTalk, then if you’d like to append to this post, or quote anything, or link to anything, then I think we’ll be able to maximize the value of this very interesting article. If you agree, just give the word and I’ll explain the subject there. (BTW, the other post you just did w/the shrimp stock was interesting to the point that I forwarded it to both forums in my sig; I hope others will spread the word of your excellent blog posts, which I find to be the best foraging blog anywhere).

    Sam Schaperow, M.S.
    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/PlantForagers
    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MushroomTalk

    Reply

    • Hey Sam! So I have this habit of getting off topic in posts occasionally. Also seems like some people think I’m a bit nuts for the russula bit, but until I find a species that doesn’t obey the dry and sniff experimental technique, I will keep doing it. Until I can really articulate individual species of russula, I’ve removed the tangent to keep the post more succinct.

      Reply

  2. Hi Alan:

    I know that I’m very pro-MT (was so even before I was made co-moderator), but my suggestion to discuss it there holds a lot of weight, even w/how your article looks today (there’s still info. here that may not be entirely accurate, which I think you’d be helped with via such a forum-based discussion). But, before investing the effort to start that discussion, I want to know that you would be interested in learning what will be explained there, while some there will likely learn some things you’ve explained). So, just give me a go, and I’ll start the thread.

    Sam Schaperow, M.S.
    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/PlantForagers
    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MushroomTalk

    Reply

    • Ok Sam, that sounds fine. I understand that the “dry and smell” method was not entirely scientific, but I have been told of much less cautionary methods for russula consumption I.E. picking every species of russula one can find, boiling them in salt water and consuming. My Eastern European fried from Georgia does this on a regular basis, and says he has never become sick. I find the method interesting, but disregard it since the identity of individual species will be lost. Any way, sure, lets start a thread, if you think I can improve something on here that would be great. I appreciate your efforts, and patience with my occasional “noobism” :). Why don’t you send me an email with links to the discussion, I will be away from the comp for the next two days.

      Reply

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