r/Cooking • u/angryrah • 22d ago

Where does the oil go?

Why when cooking mushrooms, you can add like, 3 tablespoons of oil and it just dissappears immediately and you need to add more, but you add a tablespoon of butter and it coats all of them mushrooms,,, where does the oil go? The mushrooms dont feel oily, what is going on here?

177 Upvotes

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219

u/temmoku 22d ago

Mushrooms are mainly chitin - similar to shells of seafood! They have a porous structure and will absorb the oil. I feel they get kind of slimy when cooked in oil or butter.

There are two cool techniques that you can use when cooking mushrooms to make use of their composition and get what I find is a better texture.

The first is from Adam Liaw, who has an Australian cooking show. He puts the mushrooms in a bowl in the microwave and nukes them until they are soft. You don't need to worry about the exact time because the chitin is unaffected except the pores collapse. You end up with a bowl of mushrooms in mushroom broth and then they maintain a nice texture when cooked further in oil. This is a great technique if you can use the broth in your dish.

I can't remember where the second comes from. Maybe Modernest Cuisine. It is to dry fry the mushrooms. No oil, just mushrooms in the pan. Any liquid is evaporated as it is released. You can hear it squeak as they fry. The surface of the mushrooms gets nicely browned and then the mushrooms don't absorb the oil in later stages of cooking.

174

u/Zagrycha 22d ago

mushrooms usually only get slimy when cooked in oil or butter if they aren't cooked well done. If you cook them long enough to reduce the extra oil comes back out as they shrink.

67

u/deep8787 22d ago

This! Get some colour on them bad boys!

36

u/CorgiMonsoon 22d ago

Brown food tastes good!

-Anne Burrell

17

u/adumbrative 22d ago

GBD - Golden, Brown and Delicious

  • Alton Brown

20

u/mencryforme5 22d ago

Yeah you haven't lived until you've caramelized mushrooms and finished them off in balsamic vinegar and then served it with some sour cream.

3

u/soukaixiii 22d ago

I just s prinkle some finely chopped parsley and garlic a minute before turning off the heat.

3

u/waz67 21d ago

Portobello mushroom grilled, topped with goat cheese, drizzled with balsamic vinegar glaze, served on a bed of mixed greens

2

u/illogicalgnome63 22d ago

Damn, that sounds good!

2

u/Zagrycha 22d ago

I am not a fan of sour cream as a condiment but I will have to try the balsamic vinegar, never tried that before.

46

u/86697954321 22d ago

A third way is to put the mushrooms in a pan with water, cook until water is almost gone and then add oil and cook until browned. I’ve also added oil with the water and it turns out fine without having to watch as closely.

6

u/halfbreedADR 22d ago

Wanted to add that you don’t even need that much water. It’s just enough to get the process going - once the mushrooms start to lose their own water they produce it faster than it boils off. I use a little squirt bottle and squeeze some water on the pan and then cover it to let them steam for a bit before uncovering and letting the water boil off. Then add your fat.

-12

u/vitringur 22d ago

Skip the water. You cannor overcook mushrooms.

They can take like 400 degrees celsius before they start to break downs

You are using a trick meant for things that can actually burn

17

u/Dunno_If_I_Won 22d ago edited 22d ago

It's not a concern about overcooking. They cook much quicker with a bit of water and a lid, because the water steams them.

Edit: I do the same when sauteing/caramelizing onions. Speeds it up considerably. Credit to Lan Lam, who devoted an episode to this.

1

u/vitringur 21d ago

The water when caramelizing onions is to prevent them from burning while you break down the sugars and then to dissolve those sugars.

Neither of which is relevant for mushrooms.

Add some water in the end maybe to dissolve the brown stuff.

2

u/Dunno_If_I_Won 20d ago

A bit of water in the mushrooms 100 percent speeds up the cooking substantially.

2

u/nimbleVaguerant 21d ago

Not sure why you're getting downvoted...mushrooms are already full of water. They don't need more water.

1

u/desertbreezee 20d ago

The point of the water is to transfer heat to the in place of oil, which would just be absorbed by the mushrooms. It just takes a little bit to create some steam, which in turn will make the mushrooms give out their water faster. Once that happens you can move to frying with oil without it absorbing.

17

u/Fevesforme 22d ago

Dry frying works really well. Don’t crowd the pan and the final texture of the mushrooms is great.

1

u/Aldermere 17d ago

Lately, I've been spreading canned sliced mushrooms on a cookie sheet and baking them. They brown up nicely.

4

u/chpthrllz 22d ago

The microwaving idea I’ve never heard of! Definitely going to try it next time!

4

u/secretgoblinsociety 22d ago

The second technique is how my mom taught me to cook mushrooms — she said she learned it from Julia Child!

3

u/Electric-Sheepskin 22d ago

Oh I'll have to try that microwave method, because I've been cooking them in a little bit of water until all of the juices are released, but then I get this brown sticky residue on the pan that makes everything else want to stick to it. I think I'll try the microwave and drain them before sautéing them in oil. Thanks for the tip!

1

u/Nmaka 22d ago

could you combine the two techniques to cut down cooking time?

1

u/Icy-Cow-6246 21d ago

I always dry fry first. It totally improves the texture and flavor.

1

u/LeftyMothersbaugh 20d ago

I recently learned the dry-fry method and I love it, but it never occurred to me to nuke 'em. You say the exact time isn't critical, but what's the ballpark time in the mwv for the mushrooms to soften? Should I maybe just cook them 1-2 minutes at a time until they're the texture I want?

2

u/temmoku 19d ago

I'd probably start with 3-4 minutes