Data source: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC 168582 (Mushrooms, straw, canned, drained solids).
Fun facts
- True to its name, the straw mushroom is grown on rice straw left after the harvest. It loves heat and humidity, which makes southern Vietnam a natural home for it.
- According to USDA, 100g of canned straw mushrooms (drained) has about 32 kcal, 3.8g of protein and 2.5g of fiber. That is roughly a quarter of the calories in the same weight of white rice.
- The same canned mushrooms carry about 384mg of sodium per 100g, mostly from the brine. Fresh ones are not soaked in salt water, so they are much milder.
- In Vietnam, straw mushrooms go into Thai style hotpot, sour soup, stir fried beef and vegetarian braises. The kOBE recipe library has 20 dishes that use them.
Choosing and storing
Good fresh straw mushrooms are still closed and egg shaped, with the outer veil unbroken, firm to the touch and evenly grey brown. Opened caps, slime or a sour smell mean they are past their best. Fresh straw mushrooms spoil quickly, so cook them the same day or keep them in a paper bag in the fridge for a day or two. Keep unopened cans somewhere cool and dry; once opened, move the mushrooms to a sealed container in the fridge and use them soon.
Cooking it well
Straw mushrooms cook fast: 2 to 3 minutes gives a sweet, springy bite, while longer cooking makes them rubbery and shrunken. For canned ones, blanch in boiling water or rinse a few times to reduce the salty, tinny taste, then season a little lighter than usual. To make sense of sodium numbers on labels, see sodium to salt conversion. When stir frying, use a very hot pan and do not crowd it, so the mushrooms sear instead of stewing.
