What’s better on a rainy day than a cup of tea?

How and why can mushrooms work in your favor when preparing tea?

Drinking tea is a ritual that benefits our soul. Research conducted in China, where participants were over the age of 55, found that drinking tea improved their cognitive functions.
Another research, where participants were over the age of 60 and who already had cognitive dysfunctions to some degree due to their age, found that participants who ingested mushrooms more than twice a week had a slower onset of cognitive dysfunctions compared to a test group that ingested mushrooms once or less per week.

Shiitake mushrooms are efficient and easy ingredients for preparing tea.

For tea, dried mushrooms work best. Have 1-3 mushrooms soak in water for about 30 minutes or until the mushrooms turn soft. Slice the mushrooms. Add a cup of water to a pot then add the water you used to soak the mushrooms in and the mushrooms themselves. Boil for about 5 minutes. After that add a few drops of soy sauce or salt to taste.
In eastern medicine shiitake mushrooms are used for fevers and to treat the symptoms of cold. Shiitake tea also has an relaxing effect.

You can find dried shiitake in our e-shop!

Annika Uibo / LEE RESTORAN

Creamy mushroom paste 2 servings: (less than 30 min)

• 4 rolls of tagliatelle pasta or 300g mashed pasta (zucchini ribbon)
• 1 box Scandic Oranic shiitake mushrooms (150g)
• 1 small onion (50g)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (20g)
• 1½ dl vegetable broth (1½ dl water, ½ tablespoons vegetable fund)
• 2 dl walnut cream (grind 40g light nuts in a blender. Add 2 dl of water and run smoothly) season with salt, pepper and with a small bunch of fresh parsley

-Boil the pasta according to the instructions. If you use mashed pasta, do it: peel zucchini. Strip strips of it lengthwise with a peeling knife. A suitable dose is about 150g of strips.

-Peel and chop the onion. Chop the mushrooms into pieces, different designs, even slightly different sizes though. Make vegetable broth and nut cream. Chop the parsley.

-Heat the pan and half the olive oil in it. Reduce heat to half and sauté onions for 5 minutes. Don’t let the onions brown, but don’t fuss when simmering to give the onions the softness and sweetness they need. It takes time. Transfer the peeled onions to the plate for a moment to wait.

-Heat the pan again and measure the other half of the olive oil into the pan. Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan and fry them at 2/3 heat for five minutes so that they toast and get a little color on the surface.

-Add the onions back to the pan and pour in the vegetable broth. Reduce heat to half power and cook sauce for a few minutes. Pour in the nut cream and season the sauce with salt, black pepper and fresh parsley.

-Mix the pasta in the sauce. If you are preparing a portion for one with pasta and the other with a paste, divide the sauce in half and mix the pastes separately into their own portions. Serve on plates and enjoy.

Instead of NUT CREAM, YOU CAN USE A QUICKLY ORDINARY FOOD OR FOAM CREAM.

Recipe and photos: Eeva-Maria Lisko

Truffle oil and shiitake is a good taste combination 👌 Use salt and pepper for seasoning.

Shiitake mushrooms on a skewer:

• Split the mushrooms
• Place the mushrooms on the skewer
• Apply truffle oil to the surface
• Add salt and pepper on top

The mushrooms grill quickly. Grill until the desired color is achieved.

Tasty bibimbap charms with its taste

Serves 3-4. Approx. time 55min

Meat and sauce: 100g beef, 1tbsp soy sauce, 1tbsp sesame oil, 1tsp sugar, 1/4tsp garlic.

Vegetables: 250g zucchini, 350g bean sprouts, 100g shiitake mushrooms, 120g cucumber, 1 carrot, 1/4tsp salt for the shiitakes and carrots during the cooking.

Bibimbap sauce: 2tbsp gochujang (Korean chili paste), 1tbsp sesame oil, 1tbsp sugar, 1tbsp water, 1tbsp roasted sesame seeds, 1tsp vinegar, 1tsp powdered garlic.

Preparing of the meat:

Mix the meat and the meat sauce. Let the meat marinate about 30 min when you make the dish. Roast the marinated meat on a hot pan until it’s medium rare.

Preparing of the vegetables:

Mix the bibimbap sauce in a bowl. Peel and rinse carrots.  Cut to thin slices.  Fry in oil in a pan and add 1/4 tsp salt. Do the same with the mushroom and zucchini. Peel and cut the cucumber into thin slices. Add one egg per diner to the portion. Fry the eggs according to own taste. Served with rice. Pour the rice into a bowl. Add the meat, mushrooms and vegetables on top. Pour the sauce on top of the portion and add the egg. You can add seaweed to the dish if wanted.