Shimeji is a group of edible mushroom

Edible mushroom

Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruiting bodies of several species of fungi. Mushrooms belong to the macrofungi, because their fruiting structures are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They can appear either below ground or above ground where they may be picked by hand...

s native to East Asia

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

, but also found in northern Europe. Hon-shimeji (Lyophyllum shimeji) is a mycorrhizal fungus

Mycorrhiza

A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant....

 and difficult to cultivate. Other species are saprotrophs, and buna-shimeji

Hypsizygus tessellatus

The Hypsizygus tessellatus or shimeji is an edible mushroom native to East Asia. Buna shimeji is cultivated locally in Europe, North America and Australia and sold fresh in markets.Two variations are known:...

is now widely cultivated. Shimeji is rich in umami

Umami

Umami , popularly referred to as savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.-Etymology:Umami is a loanword from the Japanese meaning "pleasant savory taste". This particular writing was chosen by Professor Kikunae Ikeda from umai "delicious" and mi ...

 tasting compounds such as guanylic acid, glutamic acid

Glutamic acid

Glutamic acid is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids, and its codons are GAA and GAG. It is a non-essential amino acid. The carboxylate anions and salts of glutamic acid are known as glutamates...

, and aspartic acid

Aspartic acid

Aspartic acid is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula HOOCCHCH2COOH. The carboxylate anion, salt, or ester of aspartic acid is known as aspartate. The L-isomer of aspartate is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids, i.e., the building blocks of proteins...

.

Species

There are several species sold as shimeji mushrooms. All are saprotroph except Lyophyllum shimeji.

Mycorrhiza

• Hon-shimeji (:ja:ホンシメジ), Lyophyllum shimeji

The cultivation methods have been patented by several groups, such as Takara Bio  and Yamasa

Yamasa

Yamasa Corporation is a Japanese corporation founded in 1645 whose primary field of business is the manufacturing of soy sauce and various seasonings. It was incorporated in November 1928. With its head office located in Choshi, Chiba, it runs two factories in Choshi and Salem, Oregon, United...

, and the cultivated hon-shimeji is available from several manufacturers in Japan.

Saprotroph

• Buna-shimeji (:ja:ブナシメジ lit. beech shimeji), Hypsizygus tessellatus
  Hypsizygus tessellatus
  The Hypsizygus tessellatus or shimeji is an edible mushroom native to East Asia. Buna shimeji is cultivated locally in Europe, North America and Australia and sold fresh in markets.Two variations are known:...
  
  , also known in English as the Brown Beech or Brown Clamshell Mushroom

Hypsizygus marmoreus is a synonym of Hypsizigus tessellatus. Cultivation of Buna-shimeji was first patented by Takara Shuzo Co.,Ltd. in 1972 as hon-shimeji and the production started in 1973 in Japan. Now, several breeds are widely cultivated and sold fresh in markets.

• Bunapi-shimeji (:ja:ブナピー), known in English as the White Beech or White Clamshell Mushroom

Bunapi was selected from UV-irradiated buna-shimeji ('hokuto #8' x 'hokuto #12') and the breed was registered as 'hokuto shiro #1' by Hokuto Corporation.

• Hatake-shimeji (ja:ハタケシメジ), Lyophyllum decastes
  Lyophyllum decastes
  Lyophyllum decastes, commonly known as the fried chicken mushroom, is an edible species of fungus in the Lyophyllaceae family. Commonly found near gravel.-External links:* at Index Fungorum...
  
  
• Shirotamogidake (ja:シロタモギダケ), Hypsizigus ulmarius

These two species had been also sold as hon-shimeji.

• Velvet pioppino (alias Velvet pioppini, Black poplar mushroom, Chinese: 茶樹菇), Agrocybe aegerita

Cooking

Shimeji should always be cooked: it is not a good mushroom to serve raw due to a somewhat bitter taste, but the bitterness disappears completely upon cooking. The cooked mushroom has a pleasant, firm, slightly crunchy texture and a slightly nutty flavor. Cooking also makes this mushroom easier to digest. In stir-fried foods, as well as with wild game or seafood it is a good mushroom. Also it can be used in soups, stews and in sauces. When cooked alone, Shimeji mushrooms can be sautéed as a whole, including the stem or stalk (only the very end cut off), using a higher temperature or they can be slow roasted on a low temperature with a small amount of butter or cooking oil. Shimeji is used in soup

Soup

Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...

s, nabe

Nabemono

Nabemono or simply called nabe, is a term referring to all varieties of Japanese steamboat dishes, also known as one pot dishes....

 and takikomi gohan

Takikomi gohan

Takikomi gohan is a Japanese rice dish seasoned with dashi and soy sauce along with mushrooms, vegetables, meat, or fish. The ingredients of takikomi gohan are cooked with the rice; in a similar preparation, maze gohan, flavorful ingredients are mixed into cooked rice...

.

External links

• Honshimeji Mushroom, RecipeTips.com. Brown Beech (Buna shimeji), White Beech (Bunapi shimeji), and the Pioppino (Agrocybe aegerita) mushrooms.