Beijing in the fall/winter = rapidly emptying bottles of moisturizer, chapped lips, and cold, unforgiving wind.
Translation: it’s bone dry up in here.
Where’s the silver lining in all this?
It’s here:
That’s right. We dried our own Chinese black mushrooms. What up!?
If you live in a place with seemingly zero-humidity…we’re talking dryness that makes your delicate 23-year old hands shrivel up into freaky gnarled old-lady fingers, simply buy some high quality fresh shiitake mushrooms, clean them (just wipe them with an ever-so-slightly damp kitchen towel), and let them air dry for a couple days. You can also throw them in a 150 degree oven for a couple hours. They’ll be super fragrant and ready for your next culinary escapade. Store them in airtight containers for up to a year!
Black Mushrooms are in season during the winter months and are easy to find, fresh and much cheaper. These days, the fresh varieties are available in a well stocked Asian grocery store. It’s the perfect time to buy them now and dry them at home and the longer you keep them, the more fragrant they get. In this dry weather, it takes about 10 days to 2 weeks to dry theme out and the best place is on a sunny window sill although the sun is not essential. After they are thoroughly dried, put them in a air tight container or zip-lock bag and they will keep for a very long time and enjoy them the rest of the year!
- Fresh Mushrooms
- Take your fresh mushrooms, clean them (just wipe them with an ever-so-slightly damp kitchen towel), and let them air dry for a couple days. You can also throw them in a 150 degree oven for a couple hours.
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