Types of Mushrooms and their Uses

Types of Mushrooms and their Uses

With so many types of mushrooms, the possibilities (and recipes) are endless. High in fiber and vitamins, mushrooms are also fat- and cholesterol-free. They're popular around the world due to their versatility as well as their meat-like heft and texture. Here, a look at the flavor profiles and characteristics of the most popular mushroom varieties.


1. Oyster Mushroom




Alternate Names: Tree oyster, angel's wings, pleurotte en huître, abalone mushroom, shimeji

Characteristics: Although these can be found in the wild growing on the sides of trees, the ones you'll find in the store or on a menu are most likely cultivated. Like their namesakes, they're whitish in color and fan-shaped, and possess a delicate odor and flavor. Oyster mushrooms are found in many dishes such as soups and stir-fries.


2.White Button Mushroom




Alternate names: able mushroom, cultivated mushroom, button, champignon (de Paris)

Characteristics: The most common and mildest-tasting mushroom around. Less intensely flavored than many of its more exotic kin, it can be eaten either raw or cooked and works well in soups and salads, and on pizzas.


3. Crimino Mushroom (Crimini, pl.)


Alternate names: Cremini, baby bellas, golden Italian mushrooms, Roman, classic brown, Italian brown, brown mushrooms

Characteristics: A crimino is a young portobello. Although the crimino is darker, firmer, and more flavorful than its cousin the white button mushroom, the two can be used interchangeably. Increasingly, retailers hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the portabellos are selling crimini mushrooms as "baby bellas."


4. Portabello Mushroom

Alternate Names: Portobella, field mushroom, open cap mushroom

Characteristics: Common in cooking, dense, rich portobellos lend depth to sauces and pastas and make a great meat substitute. When portabellos are young and small, they're called criminis. If you want a bun-substitute, you can even use the mushroom's flat cap. Mushrooms of this variety are as wide as the palm of your hand, and their meaty texture stands up to grilling and stuffing (or both!).


5. Shiitake Mushroom

Alternate Names: Shitake, black forest, black winter, brown oak, Chinese black, black mushroom, oriental black, forest mushroom, golden oak, Donko.

Characteristics: In Japanese, shiitake means "oak fungus," which describes where the mushrooms can be found in the wild. These days, however, most shiitakes are cultivated. They're best identified by their umbrella-shaped brown caps, which curl under ever so slightly. Fresh shiitakes have a light woodsy flavor and aroma, while their dried counterparts are more intense.


6. Maitake Mushroom

Alternate Names: Hen of the Wood, sheepshead mushroom, ram's head, kumotake, dancing mushroom

Characteristics: From afar, this mushroom can look like a head of cabbage. Cultivated, as well as found in the woods, these mushrooms are often sold in clusters with their soft, feathery caps overlapping. This mushroom has an earthy aroma and a gamy flavor.


7. Enoki Mushroom

Alternate Names: Enokitake, enokidake, futu, winter mushrooms, winter fungus

Characteristics:The edible variety of these mushrooms feature small, shiny white caps attached to thin stems and possess a distinctive crunch. They're good raw. In the wild, they grow on Hackberry trees, ash trees, mulberry trees, and persimmon trees.


8. Beech Mushroom

Alternate Names: Buna shimeji, beech brown mushroom, clamshell mushroom

Characteristics: Cooked, these crunchy brown-capped clusters are crunchy with a sweet nuttiness. Raw, however, they taste bitter.


9. King Trumpet Mushroom

Alternate Names: King oyster, trumpet royale, ali'i oyster, boletus of the steppes, king brown mushroom, French horn mushroom, king brown mushroom

It’s all about the thick, meaty stem on this jumbo mushroom


10. Black Trumpet Mushroom

Alternate Names: Horn of plenty, black chanterelle, trumpet of the dead

This wavy fungi is a late-summer find in the Midwest and East and grows all winter in the West. Black trumpets have a rich, smoky flavor and notes of a black truffle mushroom when dried.


11. Chanterelle Mushroom

Alternate names: Golden, yellow, chanterelle, egg mushroom, girolle, pfifferling

Characteristics: Trumpet-like, with a depression in the center of its cap, the chanterelle is one of the most popular wild mushrooms. (Because they're notoriously difficult to cultivate, chanterelles are usually foraged in the wild.) Golden-hued, fleshy and firm, they're described as having an apricot-like scent. They're common in many cuisines.


12. Hedgehog Mushroom

Alternate Names: Sweet tooth, wood hedgehog

Characteristics: With a sweet smell and taste, it makes sense that this mushroom is also called the "sweet tooth" (unless the mushroom is older — then it can take on a bitter flavor). Crunchy, nutty and meaty, this mushroom tastes very similar to a chanterelle. This hardy mushroom grows in the winter.


13. Morel Mushroom

Alternate Names: morchella

Characteristics: You can’t mistake its conical, spongy look and woodsy flavor.


14. Porcino Mushroom (Porcini, Pl.)

Alternate names: Cèpe, bolete, king bolete, borowik, Polish mushroom, Steinpilz, stensopp, penny bun

Characteristics: Slightly reddish-brown in color, porcini are one of the most prized wild mushrooms, sought out for their smooth texture and aromatic, woodsy flavor. They're popular in many countries. Fresh porcinis aren't as easy to locate, but dried ones are easily reconstituted by soaking in hot water, these have a brief summer season.


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