How to pickle oyster mushrooms at home for the winter (+18 photos)?
Pickled mushrooms are a popular dish that finds a place on both holiday tables and everyday menus. In ancient times, they were revered as a tonic due to their high vitamin content. One of the most readily available mushrooms today is the oyster mushroom. It grows wild, is cultivated commercially, and is completely safe. Oyster mushrooms can be fried, pickled, salted, or used in other dishes.
Features of the species and useful properties
Oyster mushrooms grow in a unique way – on tree trunks and stumps. Modern technology allows you to grow them yourself on sunflower husks, sawdust, or even cereal straw.
The mushroom has a fairly wide, dense, round cap, light gray or grayish-white in color, with a smooth, glossy surface. It is thinner at the edges than in the center. Characteristic features of a young mushroom are its convex and slightly curved cap, which flattens as the mushroom matures. The stem is short, almost invisible, only 3 cm thick and 5 cm long. With age, it becomes firmer, denser, and tougher. The flesh is white, turning yellow in older mushrooms.
Oyster mushrooms are considered a dietary food, containing only 0.34 grams of fat. However, they are rich in beneficial proteins, earning them the nickname "meat mushroom." Furthermore, this gift of nature is a treasure trove of nutrients. It contains zinc, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamins B1, B2, and D2. Oyster mushrooms improve digestion, detoxify the body, and normalize bowel function. Doctors recommend them after chemotherapy and for people with heart disease.
You may be interested in:Preparing oyster mushrooms for pickling at home
Preparing oyster mushrooms for cooking doesn't require much time or effort. They don't require thorough washing or peeling, as they grow without touching the soil. The only thing you might need to do is rinse them. However, this must be done very carefully, as the flesh is very fragile and can break.
After this, it's necessary to cut off the hard base—the attachment point of the fruiting bodies. It's recommended to cook the caps and stems separately due to their different densities. Therefore, separating them is the second and final step in preparing oyster mushrooms before cooking.
Some chefs recommend boiling oyster mushrooms before pickling. This should be done in a large amount of water (four times the amount of mushrooms). Once boiling, add salt—3.5 tablespoons per half kilogram of oyster mushrooms, add the caps, and reduce the heat to low. Cook the oyster mushrooms for 7-8 minutes, then remove them, drain, and cool.
Methods for pickling oyster mushrooms for the winter
Experienced home cooks know countless delicious pickling recipes. The most common are cold and hot pickling. There are also many variations using coriander and thyme, cloves, and garlic. To pickle this wonderful product for the winter, it's worth familiarizing yourself with the pickling technique.
Cold
Place the prepared mushrooms in a saucepan with salt sprinkled on the bottom. It's recommended to use 200 g of salt per 2 kg of mushrooms. Place the mushrooms with the smooth side of the caps facing down. This will help them salt faster. It's best not to salt the stems, as they are quite tough. You can use them to make broth.
The caps are sprinkled with salt again, adding spices if desired. This should be done layer by layer, finishing with salt. A press is placed on the final layer, and the mushrooms are left in this condition for 5 days at room temperature before being refrigerated. After 7-10 days, they can be enjoyed.
You may be interested in:Hot
Oyster mushrooms, salted using the hot method, are delicious. They're easy to make at home. All you need is water, sugar, spices, and, of course, the mushrooms. Add the prepared ingredients to boiling water and cook, carefully skimming off any foam. After ten minutes, turn off the heat.
Place the oyster mushrooms in the prepared jars and carefully pour the hot brine they were cooked in over them. Add the garlic, seal the lids tightly, and store in a cool place. After just 24 hours, you can enjoy your delicious homemade pickles.
When hot pickling, you can add cherry leaves and dill. Place the prepared oyster mushrooms in cold water, bring to a boil, and drain. Add half an onion, salt, and bay leaf to the new water and simmer over low heat, skimming off any foam. After half an hour, remove the mushrooms, let them drain, and layer them in jars with chopped garlic, cherry leaves, and dill.
Pour boiling brine over all of this, add sunflower oil, and seal with nylon lids. These mushrooms can be stored in the refrigerator for six months to eight months. Here are the exact quantities needed for 2 kg of oyster mushrooms:
- 70 g rock salt;
- 2 onions;
- 4 cloves of garlic;
- 10 allspice;
- 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil for each liter jar;
- 3 pcs. laurel;
- 10 pcs. cherry leaves;
- 5 dill umbrellas.
With coriander and thyme
Coriander and thyme add a unique flavor to pickles. Place them in prepared jars with mushrooms, garlic, and other spices. Fresh thyme is best placed at the bottom, along with black pepper and some of the sliced garlic. Add the coriander, remaining garlic, and salt along with the oyster mushrooms. Cover everything with oil and refrigerate.
For 300 g of mushrooms, take the following proportions of ingredients:
- 3 pcs. garlic;
- 10 g thyme;
- 7 pcs. coriander seeds;
- 6 pcs. black pepper;
- 0.5 tsp table salt.
You may be interested in:With cloves and garlic
A rather interesting recipe for salted mushrooms using cloves and garlic. For one kilogram of mushrooms, you'll need the following ingredients:
- 60 g rock salt;
- 3 cloves;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 2 pcs. dill with umbrellas;
- 1 bay leaf;
- allspice and black pepper, 4 pcs. each
- 0.5 l of water.
The prepared mushrooms should be tightly packed into the bottom of a sterilized and dried jar, smooth side down. Now you can prepare the brine. Add black and allspice berries, bay leaves, cloves, dill, and whole peeled garlic to boiling, salted water. Boil for 5-7 minutes and strain. Pour this liquid over the oyster mushrooms, cover with plastic lids, and refrigerate. Enjoy in just 7 days.
You may be interested in:Quick option
If you don't want to wait for the mushrooms to be salted, you can use this recipe for lightly salted mushrooms. For 2 kg of oyster mushrooms, you'll need:
- 1 liter of water;
- 90 g rock salt;
- 10 g sugar;
- bay leaf, pepper, black peas.
Place sugar, salt, and spices in a saucepan with water and bring to a boil until completely dissolved. Pour the cooled brine over the prepared fruit and store in a cool place. It's ready to eat after 24 hours.
Answers to frequently asked questions
- The air temperature should be between 2 and 4 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is lower, the salt will freeze; if it's higher, it will encourage the growth of harmful bacteria.
- the room must be dry and well ventilated;
- the fruits must be stored completely in liquid, without protruding stems;
- It is important to monitor the salt content, as any change in either direction will spoil the product or make it taste unpleasant;
- Avoid covering the jar with plastic containers, paper, or bags. This allows evaporation, and moisture is a breeding ground for bacteria.
Oyster mushrooms are incredibly healthy and equally delicious. They are loved fried, stewed, salted, and pickled, and added to a variety of dishes. Oyster mushrooms can be pickled cold, hot, or quickly, using various spices. It's important to follow the proper storage instructions for the pickled product.