Champignons - beneficial properties and possible harm
But first, let's briefly discuss mushrooms. It’s worth noting right away that these forest mushrooms are certainly beneficial for the human body. First of all, champignons are a rich source of selenium and vitamin D. These mushrooms regulate blood cholesterol levels, normalize blood pressure and increase the immune defense of the human body. Like any other mushrooms, champignons contain a huge amount of calcium, which is necessary to strengthen bones, hair and nails. And according to unconfirmed data, champignons reduce the risk of cancer, but, unfortunately, do not reduce it to zero.
Among the harmful properties of champignons, the only thing that can be highlighted is that they contain a large amount of chitin. This substance is difficult for the human body to digest, so too many champignons should not be eaten (especially for young children due to the immaturity of their gastrointestinal tract). Although almost all nutritionists say that you need to leave the table with a slight feeling of hunger. If you adhere to this rule, then the chitin contained in champignons will not cause any harm. Well, if you boil the champignons poorly or not at all before further heat treatment, then there is a risk of getting food poisoning.
Do I need to clean and cook champignons before cooking?
As already written in the introduction of this article, champignons must be boiled before further preparation. Thanks to this action, you reduce the risk of poisoning to almost zero. I repeat once again, during the growth process, mushrooms absorb toxins and dirt located around them (champignons growing near cities and highways are especially susceptible to this). To reduce the concentration of pathogenic substances to a minimum, you must first boil the mushrooms in plain water. But this needs to be done correctly, first of all in terms of time. By the way, pre-cooking the champignons has one more advantage: after this, the mushrooms need to be cooked in slightly less time, since they are already boiled.
Why cook mushrooms?
The biggest mistake many cooks make is to ignore cooking before frying or stewing mushrooms. Do not underestimate the need for this type of treatment, since it is often negligence that causes many troubles.
Why pre-boil the product?
- To remove all toxins and dangerous compounds that can harm the body. After all, mushrooms, like a sponge, absorb all the chemicals and impurities from the soil. During cooking, they all remain in the broth. To enhance the effect, add a whole peeled onion during the process. It also serves as a kind of indicator; if it acquires a blue tint, such mushrooms cannot be eaten.
- Get rid of larvae, microorganisms and parasites for which the collected specimen could be a home.
- Eliminate bitterness. Some types, for example, russula, milk mushrooms and chanterelles, without cooking, can taste bitter.
- Even store-bought mushrooms should be boiled to get rid of the chemical compounds that are used to protect the product from rapid rotting.
All these reasons are important to be sure to boil mushrooms before eating them or adding them as an ingredient to a dish. Some people replace the cooking process itself with soaking, but it is not as effective.
General cooking rules
We have already answered the question: is it necessary to boil champignons before frying - now let’s move on directly to the rules. Boiled champignons are extremely easy to prepare, after which you can quickly fry them, stew them, or do anything else with them. If you are preparing champignons for a salad, then cooking, which will be described in detail in the article below, will be quite sufficient. After this, you can chop the mushrooms and add them to the rest of the salad ingredients. You should also cook the mushrooms until tender if you want to make mushroom soup from them. Well, all other cooking rules will be discussed in detail in the article below.
Fresh mushrooms
So, let's now answer the question: how to cook champignons correctly. You can do this on the stove using a saucepan or use a smart device - a multicooker. In any case (regardless of whether they were purchased mushrooms or you picked them yourself), the champignons should be washed under running water and sorted (throw away the wormy and spoiled ones). In the process, traces of earth and dirt should be removed (I’m completely silent about leaves and other debris). After this, you need to put them in boiling water (the liquid should completely cover the champignons), turn down the heat a little to the next notch (if you use a multicooker, lower the temperature) and wait for it to boil again. As soon as this happens, the mushrooms need to be cooked for 10 minutes, after which the champignons can be used in further preparation.
Frozen
Now let's look at how to cook frozen champignons. In fact, everything remains exactly the same, only you first need to defrost the mushrooms naturally. By natural means we mean thawing the champignons at room temperature. If you use hot water, a microwave oven or a radiator, the taste of the mushrooms will change greatly, and not for the better. Then, as in the case of fresh mushrooms, wait until the water boils, immerse the champignons, wait for it to boil again and cook for 10 minutes. The mushrooms can then be further cooked to create a tasty and tender dish.
Features of forest mushrooms
Wild mushrooms differ from store-bought mushrooms, perhaps in about the same way as wild quail meat differs from a fast-food cutlet. They have a richer taste and amazing aroma, but they take a lot longer to tinker with. Any mushroom picker knows that before preparing wild mushrooms, they need to be additionally thermally treated. How long to cook mushrooms before frying is a controversial issue. Let's try to figure it all out.
How to choose champignons
Of course, if you picked mushrooms in the forest yourself, then you should not be faced with such a question. After all, the only rule in this case is champignons without worms and rot. Well, if you use store-bought mushrooms, then it is extremely important to choose the right one and not make a mistake. First of all, you should pay attention to the appearance: the champignons should be clean, matte, without mucous deposits and worm holes.
In most cases, these mushrooms have a milky white (sometimes with a beige tint) color. The caps should not have dents, cracks, or any strange stains or damage. The amount of ice should be minimal if you decide to opt for frozen champignons. A thick and massive ice crust indicates that the mushrooms have been defrosted and frozen several times, and this always negatively affects the taste. Don't forget to check the packaging of the champignons for mold and moisture, since it is often difficult to detect traces of a parasitic organism on the mushrooms themselves.
When should you boil mushrooms?
Before frying, cook the mushrooms:
- even young and freshly picked, if the summer turns out to be hot and dry: most likely, they will be bitter. Cooking will relieve them of this deficiency;
- old and large;
- purchased fresh, because you don’t know exactly when and where they were collected;
- dried and frozen store-bought mushrooms.
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How to prepare champignons
Cooking fresh champignons is not difficult if you prepare them correctly. First of all, you should rinse and clean the dirt with a special sponge. If there is no sponge or it does not help, then the soil and the rest of the dirt can be cut off with a knife (if these are worm holes, then you should throw out the entire mushroom, and not just the eaten part, since the waste of the worm has already penetrated into the whole part of the champignon).
Frozen champignons, as already written in the article above, must first be defrosted naturally and only then boiled (although many housewives cook frozen mushrooms in a pressure cooker, but in other devices: a slow cooker, a saucepan, and so on, you can only cook champignons that have already been thawed). By the way, at the preparation stage, you can immediately cut the mushrooms into portioned pieces to then save time on this.
How to cook champignons until done
The cooking time for champignons in almost any device (except a pressure cooker) is the same - 10 minutes. After this, the mushrooms can be eaten, for example, added to a salad. But if you want to cook stewed champignons, fried or in the form of soup, then cooking mushrooms does not end there. But we will not consider this in this article, since here we are studying the issue of preparing champignons before further cooking. By the way, for a better taste it will be very good if you add some spices to the water. More about this in the article below.
How to cook fresh champignons
So, as was written in the previous paragraph, the champignon product can be made more tasty by adding spices to the water. By the way, the result is a more pleasant and tasty aroma, so I recommend taking this issue seriously. When we cook the champignons over medium heat, you can add seasoning. The most popular is, of course, the classic version: salt, pepper and bay leaf. For rarer options, I suggest considering allspice, bay leaf, or a little citric acid.
How to cook frozen champignons
Frozen champignons, as has been written more than once in the article above, are prepared exactly this way. This means you can use the same spices: lemon juice/acid, salt, ground black pepper, allspice, bay leaf or others to your taste. But it is important to take into account the amount of seasonings: for example, you do not need to add all the listed spices to the dish at once, since the mushrooms will not be tasty. It’s better to take two, maximum three, seasonings that taste compatible with each other and mix them. Well, it’s up to you to decide which one to choose, since each person has their own taste preferences.
How to properly fry mushrooms?
Cut the mushrooms randomly into larger pieces or slices, as desired. Peel the onion and cut into half rings. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, add onion, fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring, add mushrooms, add salt, fry over medium heat without a lid, stirring occasionally.
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How long to cook the champignons until tender?
It is important to consider such a question as how long to cook the champignons in water until tender. It’s worth making an important announcement right away: there are several important rules, the observance of which will ensure the preparation of a tasty and appetizing dish. It is important to note that the time is slightly adjusted in different devices, but this will be discussed in detail in the article below. Here we will only indicate general rules that, on average, are suitable for all methods of cooking champignons. Now let's look at this issue in more detail.
How long to cook fresh champignons
As already written in the article above, fresh, recently harvested champignons need to be cooked for 10-15 minutes, depending on what degree of readiness you require. But, if you decide to chop the mushrooms in advance (for example, cut them into medium-sized pieces), then the cooking time should be reduced by 1.5-2 times. Indeed, in this case the rule applies: the cooking time of the same ingredient depends on its size. Accordingly, the smaller the champignons, the less they need to be boiled in water. So, if you cut mushrooms, you should cook them for 5-8 minutes, depending on the specific size.
How long to cook frozen champignons
Frozen champignons need to be boiled in water for a little less than 3-4 minutes. But again, if you chop mushrooms, as was already written in the article above, the cooking time should be reduced by 1.5-2 times, depending on the specific size of the chopped champignons. By the way, if you are a fan of spices and seasonings and always add a lot of these ingredients, then the cooking time should be increased by 1-2 minutes. Since any ingredients take a little longer to cook in salt water, including champignons. In general, you need to do some simple math before cooking. But adjustments during cooking are also made by the container in which the champignons are cooked: a slow cooker, saucepan, pressure cooker or double boiler. By the way, you can cook mushrooms in the microwave, but more on that below.
How long to cook champignons in soup
The recipe for mushroom soup is quite simple to implement, and the basis of this dish is mushrooms and potatoes. In addition, vegetables and several seasonings are necessarily used in the composition. To make it easier for you, I suggest looking at a recipe for stovetop mushroom soup. Cooking time takes about one hour, provided you don't work too slowly with the ingredients. At the same time, the calorie content of such a lunch is 132 kcal per 100 grams, which is considered a low-calorie dish. This is explained by the fact that the composition does not contain meat and other high-calorie foods. Now let's learn how to cook champignon mushroom soup on the stove.
List of ingredients:
- champignons – 400 g;
- potatoes – 3-4 pcs;
- onions – 1 piece;
- water – 3000 ml;
- carrot – 1 piece;
- vermicelli – 4 large spoons;
- greens - to taste;
- salt - to taste;
- bay leaf and ground pepper - at your discretion.
Step-by-step recipe for champignon soup in a saucepan:
- Peel and process the mushrooms; if they are frozen, defrost them (this was discussed in detail in the article above).
- Pour 3 liters of water into a saucepan, add a little salt and put on fire, wait until the liquid boils.
- During this time, the mushrooms should be chopped into portioned pieces (you can cut them either large or small; it depends on your taste preferences).
- As soon as the water boils, add the champignons to the pan and cook for half an hour.
- Peel the potatoes, cut into small cubes (one side should be about one centimeter).
- Once 30 minutes are up, add potatoes and spices to your liking and cook for 10 minutes.
- During this time, peel the onion and finely chop it with a knife, then add it to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Grate the carrots on a coarse or medium grater, then add them to the pan with the rest of the ingredients, don’t forget to mix thoroughly and cook for another 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, add vermicelli to the pan, taste it (add a little spices and salt if necessary), add chopped herbs and cook the mushroom soup until tender (5-10 minutes).
- The finished soup with champignons can be poured into bowls and served.
- Bon appetit!
Nutritional value of boiled champignons
If we take into account the fact that we cook only champignons, then the calorie content of such a dish will be completely low. Thus, the energy value of boiled mushrooms is 30 kcal per 100 grams. But it is important to note that few people eat boiled champignons alone (I have never met such people in my life). More often, boiled mushrooms are consumed with other dishes, for example, in the form of mushroom soup. Thus, the calorie content of champignon soup, which was discussed in the article above, is 132 kcal per 100 grams. And if you add sour cream to the composition after cooking is complete (which makes such a lunch very tasty, bright and appetizing), then the number of calories can increase to 176 kcal per 100 grams, depending on the fat content and the amount of sour cream chosen.
How and how long to cook champignons in a double boiler
The article below will contain a series of blocks with step-by-step instructions for cooking mushrooms in a specific container. Here we will look at how to cook mushroom soup in a steamer. It is immediately worth noting that initially such a device was intended for steaming dishes. But it can also be used for cooking some recipes, for example, champignon soup. By the way, if you wish, you can prepare some steamed dish at the same time as a liquid lunch (for example, make steamed cutlets or fish). This allows you to significantly save time, and you will have to spend less water. Now let's find out how to cook boiled champignons in a double boiler in the form of soup.
What you will need:
- champignons – 400 g;
- potatoes – 3-4 pcs;
- onions – 1 piece;
- water – 3000 ml;
- carrot – 1 piece;
- greens - to taste;
- salt - to taste;
- bay leaf and ground pepper - at your discretion.
Step-by-step recipe for champignon soup in a double boiler:
- Peel and process the mushrooms; if they are frozen, defrost them (this was discussed in detail in the article above).
- Pour 3 liters of water into the steamer, add a little salt and turn on the device, wait until the liquid boils.
- During this time, the mushrooms should be chopped into portioned pieces (you can cut them either large or small; it depends on your taste preferences).
- As soon as the water boils, add the champignons to the steamer and cook for half an hour.
- Peel the potatoes, cut into small cubes (one side should be about one centimeter).
- Once 30 minutes are up, add potatoes and spices to your liking and cook for 10 minutes.
- During this time, peel the onion and finely chop it with a knife, then add it to the steamer and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Grate the carrots on a coarse or medium grater, then place them in a double boiler with the rest of the ingredients, do not forget to mix thoroughly and cook for another 5 minutes.
- The finished soup with champignons from the steamer can be poured into bowls and served; you can decorate the dish with sour cream to taste.
- Bon appetit!
Pre-cooking times for different types of wild mushrooms
A real delicacy and everyone's favorite is the boletus mushroom. Its pulp is of great value due to the content of vitamins, microelements and easily digestible protein. Porcini mushrooms need to be cooked for 40-60 minutes before frying. It is advisable to salt the water and add a small pinch of soda to it.
Forest champignon or pecheritsa is much more aromatic, larger and tastier than store-bought. Everything is clear about mushrooms bought in the supermarket. But is it necessary to boil mushrooms before frying if they are collected from a clean forest? Unlike its “cultivated” counterpart, forest champignon requires preliminary boiling. Moreover, when boiled, its white-silver pulp turns the broth a terrible black color and makes it cloudy. Such a broth will not decorate any dish, and will not bring any health benefits. So, remember, you need to cook forest champignons for at least half an hour!
How long should you cook boletus mushrooms before frying? The same amount as most other mushrooms - 40 minutes. This will be quite enough. Before boiling, boletus mushrooms need to be washed especially thoroughly.
Butter, so beloved by many, after an hour of boiling becomes absolutely clean and safe for consumption. During this time, they do not lose their crispy structure, do not become overcooked, and remain strong. The first boletus broth has an unpleasant color and tastes bitter. But the second one is fragrant, light and healthy.
Chanterelles - tender, amber-red, so elegant and fragrant - behave in the primary broth in much the same way as champignons. Their broth is cloudy, brown, and completely unappetizing. We pour it out, wash the mushrooms and start preparing delicious, healthy and beautiful chanterelle dishes.
How and how long to cook champignons on the stove
The recipe for mushroom soup on the stove was discussed step by step in the article above. Here I propose to consider another version of this dish - champignon and chicken soup in a pan. This dish will turn out much more appetizing, tastier and more aromatic. True, the number of calories will increase to 158 kcal per 100 grams (and if you add sour cream, the calorie content can increase to 195 kcal per 100 grams). The recipe itself is not very complicated, and 30 minutes of time will be enough to prepare chicken broth. Let's look at a step-by-step recipe for mushroom soup with chicken in a pan - we will make it quick, appetizing and tasty.
List of ingredients:
- champignons – 400 g;
- chicken fillet – 300 g;
- potatoes – 3-4 pcs;
- onions – 1 piece;
- water – 3000 ml;
- carrot – 1 piece;
- vermicelli – 4 large spoons;
- greens - to taste;
- salt - to taste;
- bay leaf and ground pepper - at your discretion.
How to cook mushroom soup with meat in a saucepan on the stove:
- Peel and process the mushrooms; if they are frozen, defrost them (this was discussed in detail in the article above).
- Pour 3 liters of water into a saucepan, add a little salt and put on fire, wait until the liquid boils.
- As soon as the water boils, add the chicken fillet inside and cook the meat for 30-40 minutes (stir occasionally and remove any foam that forms).
- During this time, the mushrooms should be chopped into portioned pieces (you can cut them either large or small; it depends on your taste preferences).
- Add the champignons to the chicken and continue cooking the main ingredients of the soup in the pan for another 20 minutes.
- Peel the potatoes, cut into small cubes (one side should be about one centimeter).
- Once 20 minutes have passed, add potatoes and spices to your liking and cook for 10 minutes.
- During this time, peel the onion and finely chop it with a knife, then add it to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Grate the carrots on a coarse or medium grater, then add them to the pan with the rest of the ingredients, don’t forget to mix thoroughly and cook for another 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, add vermicelli to the pan, taste it (add a little spices and salt if necessary), add chopped herbs and cook the mushroom soup until tender (5-10 minutes).
- The finished soup with champignons can be poured into bowls and served.
- Bon appetit!
Salad
Layered salad with champignons is a simple, quick to prepare and very tasty appetizer. It will require the following:
- Carrots – 100 g;
- Onion – 100 g;
- Champignons – 250 g;
- Chicken eggs – 4 pcs;
- Hard cheese – 200 g;
- Mayonnaise for layering – 150 g;
- Vinegar;
- Salt and pepper to taste.
The cooking process itself is as follows:
- The carrots are washed, grated, and then placed in a salad bowl. This is the first layer of the future salad. The top should be lightly salted, peppered and coated with mayonnaise.
- The onion is peeled and cut into half rings, placed in a separate bowl, poured with a small amount of vinegar, and sprinkled with sugar and salt. After this, it is slightly crumpled with your hands, squeezed out of the juice and placed in a salad bowl. The second layer is ready.
- The third layer is made from fried champignons coated with mayonnaise.
- The fourth layer is prepared from hard-boiled eggs coated with mayonnaise.
- The fifth layer is cheese grated on a coarse grater.
The salad can additionally be decorated with sprigs of herbs, placing them on top of the fifth layer.
How and how long to cook champignons in a slow cooker
It’s worth noting right away that champignons are more convenient and better to cook in a slow cooker. The fact is that in the remaining recipes, as you may have noticed, we did not fry the ingredients. Since, according to the conditions, only a pan is used, in which vegetables and mushrooms cannot be fried; but you can take out a frying pan and fry it. In a slow cooker you can both fry and boil ingredients, which is very convenient. At the same time, the cooking time in an electrical appliance is somewhat lower, which is very pleasing to always busy people. Let's find out how to make mushroom soup in a slow cooker with your own hands at home.
Take:
- champignons – 400 g;
- potatoes – 3-4 pcs;
- onions – 1 piece;
- water – 3000 ml;
- vegetable oil - several large spoons;
- carrot – 1 piece;
- vermicelli – 4 large spoons;
- greens - to taste;
- salt - to taste;
- bay leaf and ground pepper - at your discretion.
Step-by-step recipe for champignon soup in a slow cooker:
- Peel and process the mushrooms; if they are frozen, defrost them (this was discussed in detail in the article above).
- Chop the mushrooms into portions (you can cut them either large or small; it depends on your taste preferences).
- Pour 3 liters of water into the pan, add a little salt and turn on the “Cooking” mode, wait until the liquid boils.
- As soon as the water boils, add the champignons to the pan and cook for half an hour.
- At the end of the time, pour the broth into a separate container, first strain to separate the mushrooms.
- Wash the multicooker, dry it, turn on the “Frying” mode, and sprinkle the bottom of the device with vegetable oil.
- During this time, peel the onion and finely chop it with a knife, then add it to the slow cooker.
- Grate the carrots on a coarse or medium grater, then add them to the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients, don’t forget to mix thoroughly.
- Add boiled champignons, stir and fry mushrooms with vegetables for 8-10 minutes.
- Peel the potatoes, cut into small cubes (one side should be about one centimeter).
- Pour the reserved broth into the slow cooker, add potatoes and spices to your taste.
- Turn on the “Soup” mode and cook for half an hour.
- 20 minutes after start, add vermicelli to the multicooker, taste it (add a little spices and salt if necessary), add chopped herbs and cook mushroom soup until the end of the program
- The finished soup with champignons can be poured into bowls and served.
- Bon appetit!
To clean or not to clean?
Most of the champignons that come to our table are grown under artificial conditions. Therefore, their size usually does not exceed 3-4 cm. Such mushrooms have a very thin skin, which is so tender that after cooking it is not felt at all. There is no need to remove it.
In the case of larger mushrooms and mushrooms from the forest, the situation changes dramatically. Their skin is much rougher. Therefore, it must be removed before cooking. The most convenient way to do this is with a small knife that fits in your hand. Also, during the cleaning process, the skirt is removed from the stem of the mushroom.
How and how long to cook champignons in the microwave
In fact, as you probably understand, you won’t be able to cook champignon soup in the microwave - it’s simply impossible. And in general, you cannot cook mushrooms in a microwave oven (at least without jeopardizing the serviceability of the device). Therefore, I propose to consider a method of preparing stuffed champignons in the microwave. Do not forget to pre-boil the mushrooms, taking into account the recommendations discussed in the article above. To do this, remove the legs, finely chop and mix with sour cream (or mayonnaise). Then fill the mushroom caps with the resulting mixture and sprinkle hard cheese on top. This is where the preparation ends – quickly, isn’t it? All that remains is to put the stuffed champignons in the microwave for 5-10 minutes (depending on the power of the device). If you see that the mushrooms are not cooked in 5 minutes, then increase the cooking time in the microwave oven by 3-4 minutes. Bon appetit!
How and how long to cook champignons in a pressure cooker
The last device to consider for this mushroom soup recipe is a pressure cooker. As is clear from the name of the electrical appliance, the cooking time for dinner will be significantly less than in other recipes. By the way, if you want to enhance the taste of the soup, then before adding vegetables to the broth, they should be fried (except potatoes), but this will not be discussed in the article. But we will look at a completely step-by-step recipe for champignon soup in a pressure cooker. By the way, the calorie content of such a lunch is 139 kcal per 100 grams, which is a low-calorie dish.
Ingredients:
- champignons – 400 g;
- potatoes – 3-4 pcs;
- onion – 1 piece;
- water – 3000 ml;
- carrot – 1 piece;
- vermicelli – 4 large spoons;
- greens - to taste;
- salt - to taste;
- bay leaf and ground pepper - at your discretion.
How to cook mushroom soup from champignons in a pressure cooker:
- Peel and process the mushrooms; if they are frozen, defrost them (this was discussed in detail in the article above).
- Pour 3 liters of water into the pressure cooker, add a little salt and turn on the “Cooking” mode, wait until the liquid boils.
- During this time, the mushrooms should be chopped into portioned pieces (you can cut them either large or small; it depends on your taste preferences).
- As soon as the water boils, add the champignons to the pressure cooker and cook for 15-20 minutes.
- Peel the potatoes, cut into small cubes (one side should be about one centimeter).
- Once 15-20 minutes have passed, add potatoes and spices to your liking and cook for 5 minutes.
- During this time, peel the onion and finely chop it with a knife, then add it to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Grate the carrots on a coarse or medium grater, then add them to the pan with the rest of the ingredients, don’t forget to mix thoroughly and cook for another 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, add vermicelli to the pan, taste (add a little spices and salt if necessary), add chopped herbs and cook the mushroom soup until tender (about 5 minutes).
- The finished soup with champignons can be poured into bowls and served.
- Bon appetit!
To summarize
Now you know the answers to many of your questions: do you need to boil champignons before frying, how to prepare mushroom soup in different devices and other important points. It is worth noting that most of the recipes are very similar to each other, only the cooking time and a few other minor details differ. Write in the comments what you usually use to prepare soups for lunch for your family. If you have questions, be sure to ask under the article in the comments, we will answer everything as quickly as possible. Bon appetit, see you soon!