Shiitake Bacon

Crispy, caramelized shiitake caps retain a hearty, chewy bite after slowly roasting the oven. Infused with richly savory, smoky flavors, shiitake mushrooms make even better bacon than meat.

Photo & recipe by Hannah Kaminsky (https://bittersweetblog.com/)
@bittersweet__

Hannah's blog page: Don’t Go Bacon My Heart

https://bittersweetblog.com/2022/01/31/shiitake-bacon/

Stock up on shiitake bacon, double down or even triple the batch, because there’s simply no dish that wouldn’t benefit from this umami bomb topper. Keep them in short strips, roughly chop them into bacon bits, or grind them into a fine powder to use as a savory sprinkle. Just a few of my favorite ways to use shiitake bacon include:

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups Water
  • 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Liquid Smoke
  • 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Instant Coffee Powder
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
  • 1 (2.47-Ounce) Package Dried Sugimoto Koshin Shiitake Mushrooms

Steps

1

To make the bacon, begin by whisking together the water, soy sauce, olive oil, liquid smoke, maple syrup, paprika, instant coffee, and black pepper in a medium bowl. Add the dried shiitake and stir thoroughly to combine.
2
Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface, covering and keeping all the mushrooms submerged in the liquid. Refrigerate and let soak for at least 8 hours. Longer is better; 24 hours would be ideal, if possible.
3
Remove the plastic and transfer the contents, mushrooms and liquid together, to a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat until just boiling. Let rest until cool enough to handle.
4
Once the mushrooms are fully hydrated, preheat your oven to 300 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
5
Remove the shiitake from the brine, remove the stems and save them for another recipe. Slice the caps into 1-cm wide strips.
6

Spread out the mushrooms into as even a layer as possible on your prepared baking sheet, without any pieces overlapping. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, carefully flipping the strips every 15 minutes or so to keep the entire batch cooking evenly.
7
Cook until the mushrooms are dry to the touch and highly aromatic. Straight out of the oven, the mushrooms will still be slightly soft to the touch but will crisp up nicely once cool.
8

Let cool completely. Stored at room temperature in an airtight container, the bacon will keep for up to two weeks.

Point

Suppose you want to rehydrate shiitake mushrooms quickly. In that case, it is recommended to soak them in the seasoning liquid for 1 to 2 hours, remove them once, cut the stems, and soak them in the seasoning liquid again so that the water is absorbed from the center of the caps.

Dried Shiitake mushrooms should be rehydrated in cold water to make them sweeter and tastier without any messy taste.

How to Rehydrate Dried Shiitake Mushrooms for Maximum Flavor

Rehydrating dried shiitake mushrooms to Super-plump.

Quick and easy rehydration for dried Shiitake

Why does dried Shiitake make food taste better?

More recipes

Forest-grown Shiitake in Miyazaki, Japan

原木栽培・無農薬 高千穂郷の干しいたけ