Simple steamed matsutake mushrooms is a good, minimalist way to enjoy the special flavor of this mushroom.
Wild mushrooms vary so much in their texture, flavor and identities but one thing that's constant if you really want to taste who they are is the old "less is more" philosophy.
This is really true with matsutake, their funky, piney smell doesn't want to obey the normal mushroom flavor pairings, I don't like them with cream, butter or cheese, at least no methods I've tried yet. To keep things really simple, I took the first matsie I found this year (up in northern Minnesota in red pines) and steamed it.
As a general rule, we aren't taught that steaming mushrooms is good, if you're used to following European recipes. We're taught that flavor=caramelization=cooking quickly over high heat, and generally speaking that is good advice to follow, older boletes, or puffballs would be horrible steamed. But, like I said, matsutake don't obey general rules.
In Japanese cooking, the most classic way I've heard of them being cooked is in a gohan, or basically steamed with rice. European cooking (the school I was brought up in) doesn't include making gohan, but has a number of different steaming techniques, often using parchment to trap and hold in aromas.
In Italian, you might call something baked in parchment "al cartoccio" in French it might be "en papillote", or described on a menu as being cooked"au vapeur", referring to the cognate word vapor. Despite the different names, both methods are going to include two similar things: parchment and aromatic ingredients meant to flavor the contents of the packet as they bake.
For my matsutake, I picked a few aromatics to put in the parchment I know they like: citrus, cilantro, bay, scallion, garlic, and a few slices of hot chili, and, almost even more important than herbs and aromas though is some sort of oil in your packet, I used a virgin sunflower oil from Smude's in Pierz Minnesota, I like to call it the olive oil of the Midwest.
Smude's has a pronounced sunflower flavor, sesame oil would be great too though, and probably more in line with traditional flavor pairings. Without oil on your subject/centerpiece in your parchment, things can taste a bit lifeless. Make sure to have a little crunchy salt to finish when it comes out of the oven.
This was a nice communion with my second year picking matsutake here in Minnesota, if you find some very young crunchy porcini or boletes they'd be good like this too, and steaming fish, mussels, clams or shrimp in the packet, especially with pasta (or maybe rice noodles with matsutake) would also be very good.
Steamed mushrooms won't be for everyone though, and if you've never had them before, I would make sure to have the rice and soy on the side--some people won't dig the chewy texture of matsutake cooked like this.
I would avoid cooking mature boletes, puffballs, entoloma, or most other mushrooms that taste really good browned like this, unless they're browned beforehand and tossed with something, pasta with tomato, mussels and clams, for example.
Matsutake Mushrooms Baked in Parchment
Equipment
- 1 sheet of parchment paper, roughly 2'x2'
Ingredients
- 1 large matsutake sliced, or a few small matsutake, you could also tear them into pieces
- small handful of fresh cilantro and attached stems
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 1 large clove of garlic sliced thin
- Zest of half a lime peeled with a vegetable peeler into 1 inch strips
- Kosher salt or crunchy finishing salt, to taste
- Virgin sunflower oil or sesame oil, to taste
- A few thin slices of fresno chili plus a few more for finishing, optional
- 2 scallions coarsely chopped
For serving (optional)
- Soy sauce, to taste
- Cooked white rice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Lay out the parchment, making a crease in the middle, then place all of the herbs and aromatics in a single layer except the oil. Clean the matsutake with a brush, or wipe clean with a damp towel. Slice the mushroom into ½ inch thick slices, toss with the oil, then shingle on top of the aromatics.
- Bring up two sides of the parchment together, then fold the top into a 1 inch crease. Fold the crease, then repeat. Next take each unfolded side, holding the original crease down with one hand, and crease the sides in at 1 inch intervals a few times until you've made a little package.
- Bake the package for 30 minutes, or until the paper is lightly browned. Remove the packet from the oven, then using a sharp knife or a scissors, snip open the top to reveal the insides. Use a spatula to remove the mushrooms to a plate, then season to taste with salt, some chopped cilantro and a few extra slices of chili. Serve with rice and a bit of soy sauce on the side.
Krisztina Boultbee
The production of foie gras is super cruel! Might want to look into it. But mushrooms are awesome! I actually just fried up a couple of the pine mushrooms with a few hedgehog mushrooms yesterday. The matsutakes were pretty chewy and meaty. I wish I saw this recipe before cooking them. The hedgehogs were awesome though!
Alan Bergo
IDK what foie gras production has to do with an article on matsutake, but there's actually a number of producers now that don't even force feed the birds, they just leave the food out for them and they eat on their own. A producer from Spain was named the best foie in the world a while back using that practice. What I think a lot of people don't know is that foie is just something humans noticed in nature and encouraged. It's similar to selecting a plant for a certain characteristic like larger roots or fruit. Poultry naturally gorge themselves on food in the fall before migration, although there's some producers that have given the product a bad name, there's others that are perfectly ethical and natural. In Caledonia MN, a French guy (Au Bon Canard) has ducks that walk up to him and sit on his lap while he feeds them. It isn't the barbaric practice it's been made out to be. Natural foie gras happens in nature all the time when animals eat grains and starches and I've seen it in everything from wild geese and ducks to pigs and rabbits.
Steven Kang
Hi Chef,
Since I now have some fresh matsutakes, I will try this method of integrating herbs like cilantro for en papillote. Though, I used to use tin foil before. Then I used to add sake and a touch of tamari but never thought of sesame oil. Thank you.
Alan Bergo
Thanks Steven.
Chris C. Logan
Hi Chef Alan. During the fall season '23 I randomly came across just a few in an area. Very interesting indeed. I was in midst of processing some other foraged eats. So I decided to put these "matsies" in a small concealed jar after slicing them & adding about 2 cups coarse kosher salt. I decided to leave them together for many month; having come up with an idea to allow the aroma & flavor to get into salt. So my attempt is to use that "infused" salt in a recipe for Miso soup. Does this sound like a good idea or would the salt be irrelevant?
Alan Bergo
Hi Chris, the salt is irrelevant here. Just make miso soup with some matsutake mushrooms is what I'd do.
Chris C. Logan
Okay. Thanks Chef Alan. I like tofu. Mom & sister both had that soup before & they say they really like it.
Amy L
I have some raw matsutake that I sliced and froze. If I used them in this recipe, would you recommend I cook from frozen or let them thaw first before putting in the oven? (Or do you not recommend this preparation at all if my mushrooms were frozen?) Thanks for the great recipes!
Alan Bergo
Hi Amy, so, I've been meaning to freeze matsutake but I haven't yet, so I can't speak to it. I would just let them thaw enough for you to slice them and go from there.
AmyS
I’m interested in using my frozen pines in this (have some sliced some whole wrapped in foil)
I see this is an updated recipe I. 2023 so wondering if there is any further insights about using frozen?
Thanks!
Alan Bergo
This is not for frozen matsutake. You'll want to make miso soup with those-it's excellent.
AmyS
Ok will try the soup, sounds simple and tasty (but the packets were fun to bring over to potluck!)
AmySw
Ok so I tried it (with modifications) using whole frozen matsutake, thawed slightly and sliced. I roasted some quinoa and put down first, to help manage moisture (but roasted in case they don’t cook) and some think carrots (then herbs, lemon peel and garlic). Worked fine. Tasty and not watery
Alan Bergo
Thanks for sharing Amy.
Mike
Chris Constantino has an awesome recipe for B. Edulis cooked in parchment with foie gras. Check it out. You wont be sorry.
Alan Bergo
YUM.