Shiitake Mushrooms

The popular Shiitake mushrooms are known for their earthy flavour above all. They have a very deep, distinct rich flavour that cannot be mistaken with other mushrooms. When cooked, their caps can be quite soft and their stems can be chewy yet succulent.  These mushrooms can help promote a healthy lifestyle.

History and Uses 

The earliest known record of Shiitake cultivation dates back to 1209, during the Song Dynasty in China. This makes it the oldest known cultivated mushroom. The name shiitake comes from the Japanese Shii, the name of the tree it grew on, and take, for mushroom.

In Japan, the Shiitake was cultivated by cutting down the shii tree (this is an oak relative) and leaning those logs against trees that were already growing Shiitake or were known to contain Shiitake spores. This was an early way to inoculate the logs with Shiitake spores so that they could be grown for harvest. 

Nutritional Information

There’s good reason to grow shiitake mushrooms, too! One shiitake mushroom contains about 58 mg of potassium (a natural electrolyte!), and like most mushrooms, they’re a great source of polysaccharides (those complex carbohydrates that are so good for you!). They’re also rich in B vitamins, including thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, and folates. They also contain many dietary minerals, like copper (one 100g serving provides 16% of your RDA of copper!), iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc!

Shiitake mushrooms contain all 8 essential amino acids in a higher percentage than in milk, eggs, or soybeans! Essential amino acids are amino acids that cannot be produced by the body and must come from food. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, an essential macronutrient in the human diet. The presence of all the essential amino acids makes the protein in shiitake mushrooms a complete protein!

Many vegetarians eat shiitake mushrooms as a meat substitute, both because of their nutritional content and their savory taste and meaty texture.

So you can see that shiitake mushrooms are nutritional powerhouses, full of lots of different kinds of nutrients. This makes them an excellent addition to any diet.

Medicinal Qualities 

Shiitake are wonderful culinary mushrooms, but they’ve also been used medicinally for centuries. The Chinese used (and still use!) Shiitake mushrooms to treat anything from colds to headaches to constipation. They are also thought to improve longevity.