Russulas are the most common among edible mushrooms. But the process of collecting and preparing them requires knowledge of certain features and nuances, which often scares off collectors and cooks. In fact, the procedure is simpler than in the case of boletus, and the taste of the product has a wide range of nutty shades, opening up many facets of culinary possibilities.
Our detailed article with photos describes different methods and secrets of creating the most delicious dishes from these forest gifts.
How to choose russula
There are more than thirty types of these mushrooms, but not all of them are edible. There are edible ones, with a sweet-nutty flavor, and also conditionally edible ones - with a hot-spicy taste.
Important: when going on a “silent hunt” on your own, make sure that you are familiar with all the options and the differences between them. There are no poisonous varieties, but tasteless ones will ruin your mood. Otherwise, it is easier and safer to buy mushrooms.
Russulas appear in the first month of summer, but it is better to collect them closer to autumn, until the end of September, if it turns out to be warm.
The color of the cap determines the taste of the mushroom: there should be less red, and more green, yellow and blue. The product will be edible and sweet.
How to prepare russula
Despite the peculiarities of processing, mushrooms are widely used in cooking. 5 to 7 minutes of cooking is enough, and they can be added to various dishes of meat, vegetables, poultry, and then stewed, fried, steamed, etc.
Caution: russula has very brittle flesh, but if you scald them with boiling water first, the mushrooms will crumble less.
It is better to soak fruits brought from the forest in water for 2 hours to ensure that they get rid of dirt and excess bitterness. Throw away all specimens damaged by insects - they may be damaged by worms and larvae. Place the rest on a sieve over the sink to drain the liquid.
Certain cooking recipes require an individual approach to the product before heat treatment. But most recommendations boil down to the fact that you need to keep the mushrooms in boiling water for a while, and then clean the caps.
Preparing russula for cooking
In order for guests and family members to enjoy the food, the russulas should be properly prepared and processed for further preparation:
- The collected mushrooms must be carefully sorted. Then sort all damaged copies.
- Before you start, be sure to wash the mushrooms under running water.
- For better taste, it is recommended to remove the top film for specimens with red and blue caps.
- Care must be taken when cleaning the product, since the russula caps are quite fragile and break easily.
- Some varieties of mushroom do not require pre-cooking. But for greater safety, it is better to carry out heat treatment. When cooking, the beneficial properties of the product will not be completely lost.
After careful processing, you can begin preparing mushroom dishes.
How to fry russula with onions
Recipe for fried russula in a frying pan with sour cream
A small change to the usual way of cooking mushrooms, which will significantly expand the range of taste of your favorite product.
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Number of servings: 3
Energy value
- calorie content - 102 g;
- fats - 7.6 g;
- proteins - 3.4 g;
- carbohydrates - 5 g.
Ingredients
- Russula - 0.5 kg;
- sour cream 20% - 200 ml;
- onions - 2 pcs.;
- sunflower oil - 20 ml;
- salt - to taste;
- fresh herbs - to taste.
Step-by-step preparation
- Peel the vegetables and chop finely.
- Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and carefully add the onion to sauté. After waiting for its golden hue to appear, remove from heat.
- If the mushrooms were pre-soaked, they can be cooked immediately. Otherwise, the fruits should be thoroughly washed under running water, peeled, and only then cooked.
- Pour the russula with water in a small container and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Place in a colander and allow excess liquid to drain well.
- Chop the mushrooms and fry over high heat separately from the onions to form a crust.
- Add onion to the russula, add sour cream and salt. Mix.
- Bring the pan to a boil and keep it there for a few minutes.
Tip: It is recommended to sprinkle with fresh herbs only before serving in order to preserve the nutritional and taste qualities of the product.
It will be delicious soon
Let's look at how to cook fried russula. There are many recipes for cooking them in a frying pan, and they differ mainly in the ingredients.
Recipe one
- 500 g prepared russula;
- 4 tbsp sour cream;
- 1 onion;
- 1 bouillon cube;
- 3 tbsp. butter;
- greens to taste.
- Heat a frying pan over high heat and add butter. If there is a heating indicator, wait until the center of the pan turns red.
- Place the onions along with the bouillon cube. When the onion is fried, add it, but do not remove it too far.
- After this, start frying the russula. This will only take 3-5 minutes over high heat.
- A minute before the mushrooms are ready, reduce the heat to low, add the onion, and then sour cream.
- Stir thoroughly so that nothing burns.
Sprinkle the finished dish with herbs and can be served as a snack.
Recipe two
- 500 g mushrooms;
- 1 onion;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice;
- butter;
- spices and herbs to taste.
- Peel the onion and garlic and then finely chop. Fry them until soft in a frying pan over medium heat.
- Cut the prepared mushrooms into strips and add to the previous ingredients.
- After this, add lemon juice and spices. Mix thoroughly and cook for 3-5 minutes over high heat.
Sprinkle the finished mushrooms with herbs and serve with fried meat or as a sauce in pasta.
Recipe three: mushrooms with potatoes
- 800 g potatoes;
- 500 g mushrooms;
- 6-7 tbsp. vegetable oil;
- 1 large onion;
- 1-2 cloves of garlic;
- salt, pepper and herbs to taste.
- Wash and peel the potatoes, and then cut them into small strips.
- Heat a frying pan with oil and add the potatoes. Fry until the first signs of a beautiful golden crust appear.
- While the frying process is in progress, coarsely chop the mushrooms.
- Remove the skins from the onion and garlic, then finely chop.
- After these manipulations, add all the remaining ingredients to the frying pan.
- Mix thoroughly so that everything can cook through.
After cooking, sprinkle with herbs and treat to guests and household members.
Recipe for fried russula in a frying pan in batter
An interesting and original delicacy that can be served at a daily or holiday table.
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Number of servings: 6
Energy value
- calorie content - 168.7 g;
- fats - 6.3 g;
- proteins - 5.9 g;
- carbohydrates - 22.8 g.
Ingredients
- Russula - 0.5 kg;
- chicken egg - 1 pc.;
- mayonnaise - 2 tbsp. l.;
- wheat flour - 150 g;
- water - 70 ml;
- garlic - 3 cloves;
- salt, pepper - to taste;
- sunflower oil - 15 ml.
Step-by-step preparation
- Peel and rinse the mushrooms. Remove the films from them and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.
- Make the batter: mix mayonnaise, flour, egg, water and spices. Add crushed garlic.
- Place the boiled russula in a colander to drain. Wait until it cools down a bit.
- Carefully lower each cap into the batter and immediately place it in the oil heated in a frying pan.
- Fry on both sides until golden brown.
Tip: fried russula in batter can be used as an independent dish or part of another, with the addition of a side dish.
Spicy russula chops
Compound:
- Russula caps – 30 pcs.
- Breadcrumbs – 100 g
- Eggs – 5 pcs.
- Flour – 6 tbsp.
- Sour cream – 5 tbsp.
- Salt and pepper - to taste
- Vegetable oil - for frying
Preparation:
- Clean the russula, select wide and flat caps.
- Place the caps in salted water and leave for a while, then drain in a colander.
- In a clean, deep bowl, prepare the batter: mix eggs, flour, sour cream, salt and pepper.
- Dip the russula caps into the prepared batter, then sprinkle with breadcrumbs and fry in sunflower oil until cooked.
- Place the russula chops together, pour in the remaining batter and fry over low heat for 15 minutes.
Recipe for fried russula with potatoes in a frying pan
An option for preparing mushrooms that will not “spread” in the dishes and will remain elastic. In combination with a popular root vegetable, russula can quite claim the title of “crown” dish.
Tip: It is recommended to use new potatoes with firm flesh.
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Number of servings: 10
Energy value
- calorie content - 134.6 g;
- fats - 5 g;
- proteins - 3 g;
- carbohydrates - 19.4 g.
Ingredients
- russula - 600 g;
- potatoes - 1 kg;
- onion - 1 pc.;
- butter - 2 tbsp. l.;
- salt, pepper - to taste;
- sunflower oil - 20 ml.
Step-by-step preparation
- Pour boiling water over the prepared and sorted mushrooms and let cool to room temperature. It is this procedure that will allow them to maintain their shape.
- Drain the broth and rinse the fruits with running water.
- Remove the skin from the caps. If the mushrooms have been stored for longer than a day, remove the stems.
- Chop the onion. Heat butter and sunflower oil in a frying pan. Fry the vegetable over medium heat until golden brown.
- Cut each mushroom into 4 parts and pour the pieces into the frying pan. Stir, add spices.
- Fry together for 10 minutes, stirring gently and making sure the onion does not burn. All liquid should boil away.
- Peel and wash the potato tubers. Cut them into strips or small cubes. Place in a bowl, add salt and stir. Leave to steep for 5 minutes, then add to the mushrooms.
- Fry everything together in a frying pan for no more than 10 minutes. under the lid, and then 10 more without it, until fully cooked.
Tip: if you add a few porcini mushrooms, it will be even tastier.
Selection and preparation of ingredients
Russulas go well with potatoes. In this form, these mushrooms incredibly reveal their taste.
Important! Before frying, it is recommended to pour boiling water over the russula for a few minutes. After this, the fruiting bodies will not fall apart or steam in the frying pan.
The main thing is to follow the following rules:
- in cooking, use only young fruiting bodies of this food product;
- discard wormy and damaged russula;
- before starting processing, rinse them several times under running water;
- cut the stems of the mushrooms by about half, and if the product sits for more than a day after harvesting, then use only the caps.
How to remove bitterness from russula
If the cap is red, it means the mushroom grew in a swampy area and will taste bitter. Since by their nature these organisms are a kind of sponge, they absorb a lot of substances from the soil in which they live during their life cycle.
Soaking in a small amount of salt water, which must be done before the main preparation, will help partially get rid of the bitterness. A couple of hours maximum is enough. The amount of time depends on how many mushrooms need to be processed. For example, 1 kilogram of product can stand for only an hour.
Cooking features
- Russulas are difficult to confuse with other mushrooms, which is why cases of poisoning with them are not frequent. However, you can also be poisoned by edible mushrooms, since they are capable of absorbing various toxins that do not disappear even after heat treatment. Therefore, it is impossible to collect russula in environmentally unfavorable areas, in sanitary zones of enterprises and along highways. For the same reason, it is not advisable to use old, overgrown mushrooms for cooking.
- Despite the name, you cannot eat russula raw. But it is not necessary to boil them before frying, although this manipulation will not be superfluous, as it will get rid of the bitter taste characteristic of these beautiful mushrooms. Another way to get rid of bitterness is to soak russula for 1-2 hours in cold water.
- It is not necessary to peel off the film covering the caps of the russula, but it is not difficult to remove it by prying it off with a knife. Be sure to remove the film only from mushrooms of bright color, since it is too dense, and this can negatively affect the taste of the finished dish.
- How long to fry the russula depends on the specific recipe, but usually 15-20 minutes is enough.
Features of frying frozen russula
Do not defrost mushrooms before cooking. If they are frozen into a lump, just let it thaw a little to chop it into smaller pieces, and then cook for 15 minutes in heated sunflower oil.
Tip: when buying frozen russula in a store, pay attention to their condition in the bag. If the mushrooms form one or more lumps, this is a clear sign of a violation of storage rules, indicating that the product has already been defrosted after initial processing.
Calorie content of foods possible in the dish
- Jacket potatoes – 74 kcal/100g
- Fried potatoes – 192 kcal/100g
- Ripe potatoes – 80 kcal/100g
- Boiled potatoes – 82 kcal/100g
- Baked potatoes – 70 kcal/100g
- Mashed potatoes – 380 kcal/100g
- Peasant unsalted butter – 661 kcal/100g
- Peasant salted butter – 652 kcal/100g
- Amateur unsalted butter – 709 kcal/100g
- Butter 82% – 734 kcal/100g
- Ghee – 869 kcal/100g
- Vegetable oil – 873 kcal/100g
- Russula – 17 kcal/100g
- Salt – 0 kcal/100g
- Onions – 41 kcal/100g
Calorie content of foods: Russula, Onions, Potatoes, Vegetable oil, Butter, Salt
Quick recipe
Frozen mushrooms can be cooked with onions, sour cream and potatoes, just like fresh ones. But you shouldn’t expect the same taste and texture density. Russulas themselves are quite loose, and after freezing they will lose their shape even more.
Over high heat, the mushrooms will quickly melt and develop a crust before they begin to fall apart. You need to add the onion later otherwise it will burn. The remaining ingredients are at the discretion of the cook or according to the recipes presented above.
Properly prepared russula will appeal not only to mushroom lovers, but also to those who are wary of this product. Dishes from forest gifts can diversify your diet in winter and summer, serving them simultaneously with hot side dishes or vegetables - raw and stewed. Also remember the benefits of mushrooms for the body - they are a valuable source of vegetable protein, minerals, vitamins and fiber. So don’t forget to prepare delicious and low-calorie russula for your loved ones and guests.
