Period-appropriate trekking superfood: Dried Mushrooms

[SierraStrider]

I'm always experimenting with new foods for the trail, and on a recent trip I brought along an ingredient I've been wanting to try for a while: dried mushrooms.

It went better than I had hoped.

First, the (somewhat) bad: dried mushrooms don't reconstitute perfectly. They never seem to puff back up to the same texture as fresh mushrooms, no matter how long you simmer them for.

The rest is all good. From a nutritional standpoint, they're phenomenal. Depending on the variety, they're almost half protein by weight, have a reasonable amount of dietary fiber, and come in at around 3½ Calories/gram.

From a culinary perspective, they're also very, very good. They're perfect in soups, but if used in another manner then the water used to reconstitute them can be drunk with a little salt as a delicious broth or tea.

Overall, this strikes me as a fantastic addition to anyone's ration bag. Enjoy!

[Straelbora]

You're right; sadly, I don't care for most mushrooms. There is one type that my wife dried from the Chinese grocery store that I'm kind of OK with.

There's a mushroom soup from Poland that I actually like, but it's made with about sixty dollars' worth of dried porcini mushrooms.

You know what pairs nicely with dried mushrooms if you're making it into a soup at camp? Barley.

[caedmon]

We've fallen in with an amateur mycologist and dried wild mushrooms are now a staple in our house. We like to grind them up and use them as a thickener. It's especially useful as a flour replacement for soups & gravies.

[SierraStrider]

I really like the mushroom powder as thickener idea. Sounds tasty!

[Greg]

We like to grind them up and use them as a thickener. It's especially useful as a flour replacement for soups & gravies.

I bet that'd be delicious in a salt pork/"bacon" broth.

[Elwindil]

Over on the Townsend's youtube channel there's a thing where he shows how to make a mushroom ketchup, I'm sure you could do the same thing with the dried ones and it would be just as good.

[Ursus]

I can't believe no one has asked this. What kind of mushrooms are you using at the moment?

[Manveruon]

Thanks Ursus, that was going to be my question too, haha.

This is a great idea! How are you drying them? Or are you coming by them pre-dried?

[caedmon]

I can't believe no one has asked this. What kind of mushrooms are you using at the moment?

Mostly boletes. They're rather common up here in Alaska.

As for drying we slice them and put them in our food dehydrator.

[Taurinor]

That sounds really interesting! I'll have to experiment with using dried mushrooms to make quick broths - dried lentils are one of my go-to trail foods, and I usually cook them with some chicken pocket soup or bacon, but one of the more dedicated members of my local group is vegan, so I've been looking for other options.

[SierraStrider]

I've been getting store-bought. Harmony House brand, specifically, but I wouldn't be surprised if buying them from the grocery and dehydrating them came out cheaper.

[SierraStrider]

That sounds really interesting! I'll have to experiment with using dried mushrooms to make quick broths - dried lentils are one of my go-to trail foods, and I usually cook them with some chicken pocket soup or bacon, but one of the more dedicated members of my local group is vegan, so I've been looking for other options.

I did some experimentation between jerky, textured vegetable protein and mushrooms in camping soup. Honestly, mushrooms came out the best. Which is good, because A) textured vegetable protein isn't period and B) I have a philosophical aversion to vegetables pretending to be meat.

I have a fantastic recipe for North African lentil soup. Your comment makes me want to modify it for the trail.

[Elleth]

mushrooms!!!

Oh that sounds wonderful. I'll have to try that, thank you!

[Ringulf]

Wow this all sounds so scrumptious! I am very fond of mushrooms and have collected many recipes for them over the years. I have used them in soups and stews with wild scallion and yes Barley does pair well with most mushrooms. I enjoy them fried with onions most of all. but they are also quite good pickled or marinated, in this form they can keep a very long time and are very good for provisions in the self sufficient homestead! I have used the combo of onion, scallion and mushrooms for everything from an additive in meatloaf to stuffing in wildfowl with wild rice. I need to stop I am making myself very hungry, suffice it to say that having fungus among-us is not always a bad thing!

[SierraStrider]

I recently did an experiment with dehydrating mushrooms at home. I wanted to see if it was cheaper to buy them already dried or to dry them yourself.

I sliced up 250 g of mushrooms and put them in my dehydrator. Once dry, there was only about 16 g left. This was a higher proportion of water weight than I had expected, but it meant that purchasing already-dried mushrooms can be about the same price as buying them at the grocery store and drying them yourself.