Why honey mushrooms are useful
It is pleasant to taste the fried fresh mushrooms. Especially in the cold winter season. Supermarket pickles can hardly match the exquisite and delicate taste of fresh forest delicacies. In order to preserve this indescribable taste, it is necessary to start harvesting in the fall. The best way to keep them fresh is by freezing them. After reading this article, you will learn how you can cook frozen mushrooms.
The benefits of honey agarics
Why honey mushrooms are useful
The mushroom is a common group that got its name from a special affection for the old tree stumps, on which they are most often found. They also grow on the ground: in the forest, in the meadow, in the thickets of bushes.
One of the varieties - "autumn honey agaric" refers to the parasitic species, because can choose a place of residence and a living tree, resulting in the plant to death. These mushrooms are popular among mushroom pickers due to their convenience in finding and collecting, because they grow up as whole families.
Honey mushroom is not only low-calorie, but also incredibly healthy - it contains a huge amount of protein, vitamins, fiber, amino acids. In addition, the content of iron and zinc allows us to speak about their benefits for the hematopoietic functions of our body. They are rich in phosphorus and potassium, necessary for healthy bone growth and strengthening of the musculoskeletal system and are quite capable of competing with fish in their content; retinol, beneficial for skin health and good vision, as well as many other beneficial elements.
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Calories - 21-23;
- Proteins - 2.3;
- Fats - 1.4;
- Carbohydrates - 0.7;
- Fiber - 5.35;
- Fatty acids - 0.6.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
All ladies who have been on a diet at least once are well aware of the exhausting feeling of hunger during this process. Small mushrooms, which have a low calorie content, are quite satisfying and can be successfully included in the diet menu. Honey mushrooms are introduced into the vegetarian menu, they can be consumed during fasting.
Adepts of traditional medicine argue that the antiseptic and antibiotic properties of honey fungus can be compared with garlic. In addition, frequent use in small amounts helps prevent cardiac and oncological diseases. The use of these mushrooms helps to normalize the functioning of the thyroid gland. That is why housewives choose freezing as storage.
Frozen mushrooms retain all the useful properties.
Doctors, however, warn: the abuse of mushrooms, like other mushrooms, harms the pancreas, for diseases of which (for example, pancreatitis) these mushrooms are completely contraindicated. They are not recommended for children under 12 years of age, as well as for persons suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and the elderly.
By the way. Honey mushrooms are useful for those who have been found to have Staphylococcus aureus or Escherichia coli in their bodies.
How to freeze correctly
Only healthy mushrooms should be frozen.
There are several rules:
- The fresher the better.
- Go through, picking the healthiest, healthiest looking ones.
- Rinse, then leave to dry a little.mushrooms quickly absorb water, which, becoming ice, will harm the taste.
- If you have large mushrooms, leave only the caps for freezing.
- Prepare a space in the freezer where you can lay out the workpiece. It should be a flat surface. Place neatly so as not to wrinkle, it is advisable to leave a little space between them.
- When the mushrooms are frozen and hard, the frozen mushrooms can be put in a bag or container.
- If you are afraid to freeze them fresh, we advise you to boil them for 5 minutes. After they thaw, you will no longer need to waste time on additional heat treatment. This method is especially good for ugly and broken mushrooms that can be used for filling or frying. The cooled ones can be immediately put into containers.
Defrosting and cooking
Rapid thawing affects the taste of the product; therefore, defrosting in a microwave oven is highly discouraged.
It is best to get frozen mushrooms in advance, separate the required amount and transfer them to the lower shelf of the refrigerator. Within 10 hours, they will thaw without damaging their cellular structure, loss of taste and smell of fresh forest delicacies. They need to be cooked immediately, on the same day.
If the frozen mushrooms were pre-cooked, then to serve them to the table, it is enough to boil them for another 10 minutes. If you are going to add them to soup, then additional cooking is not necessary. It is not recommended to add spices to preserve the original forest aroma.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
Before eating frozen fresh mushrooms, they can be soaked for 2-4 hours in cold water so that they release all the toxins hazardous to health that have accumulated in their fruit bodies during growth (even if they were collected in an ecologically safe area). But this is especially true for mushrooms bought on the market, because you cannot be sure that they were collected where the seller says.
Raw mushrooms require more careful processing: after defrosting, they should be thrown into boiling water, and then boiled for 20 minutes. Raw mushrooms also do not require any pre-processing if you are going to use them in soup. For a more appetizing aroma, housewives are advised to add a peeled onion, bay leaf or black pepper. The process of cooking in a multicooker is not much different from the above, i.e. in a saucepan, you also need to boil for 20-25 minutes.
Conclusion
Frozen mushrooms retain all those properties that perfectly complement any dish: soup, salad, baked goods. They even smell exactly like fresh mushroom.
Follow the above tips - and the dishes will delight you and your loved ones. Enjoy your meal!
