Umami is considered the fifth basic taste, alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. It is a savory flavor created by glutamates in food, most commonly found in meat, fish, sauces, soups, cooked, tomatoes, cheeses, soy sauce, and fermented foods. Mushrooms are one of the few plants foods that have strong umami flavor. Umami flavors can enhance low-sodium foods, reducing the need for added salt. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a processed form of glutamate and flavor enhancer in soups, Chinese foods, and processed meats. Some people describe temporary symptoms after eating foods high in MSG including headaches, flushing, and even chest pain. However, there is no definitive research to show that MSG causes these symptoms. The best treatment if one consistently experiences these symptoms is to avoid foods with MSG. Dried mushrooms also contain the vitamin. Some estimates show dried mushrooms to contain about 600 IU of vitamin D2 per 3.5 ounces if stored in dark, cool, dry conditions for up to 6 months (the vitamin may start to break down after that time). [3] However, they taste quite bitter when eaten raw, so they should always be cooked. They go great in stir fries or with seafood or wild game. 15. Shiitake Mushrooms

The matsutake mushroom, or pine mushroom, isn’t very well known in the West. But it’s a highly prized mushroom in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cuisine. It has a distinctive spicy odor. Some varieties of mushrooms only grow on the live root systems of certain species of trees, or have other characteristics that make them nearly impossible to cultivate in a large-scale agricultural setting.Another reason is personal preference. Some people simply do not enjoy the taste, texture, or aroma of mushrooms. However, they still want to add depth, complexity and umami flavor to their recipes. (Mushrooms are umami powerhouses so another high in glutamates ingredient will be needed to replace them!)

Saprotrophic mushrooms can grow on decaying plants, wood, and even dead animals. Saprotrophs are an important part of the food chain and are a big reason why there isn’t dead matter laying all over the ground.They can be found wild, and are also cultivated in places like the UK, France, and the Netherlands. Blewits can be eaten sauteed in butter or in a cream sauce, as an omelette filling, or in a stew. 12. Morel Mushrooms Zhang S, Tomata Y, Sugiyama K, Sugawara Y, Tsuji I. Mushroom consumption and incident dementia in elderly Japanese: The Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2017 Jul;65(7):1462-9. Mushrooms, especially oyster mushrooms, portobello mushrooms and eryngii mushrooms, are often used as a meat substitute due to their meaty texture. It’s important only to harvest wild mushrooms if you know what you’re doing or are mushroom hunting with an expert that can positively identify the specimens you find.

Ba DM, Ssentongo P, Beelman RB, Muscat J, Gao X, Richie JP (2020). "Mushroom Consumption Is Associated with Low Risk of Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observation Studies". Current Developments in Nutrition. 4 (2): 307. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzaa044_006. PMC 7258270. They usually have broad, thin, oyster-or-fan-shaped caps, which is how these mushrooms got their name. Some individuals have compared the flavor to shellfish since it is delicate and delicious. Cultivated mushrooms include any that you can find at the grocery store like button mushrooms, portobello, cremini, oyster mushrooms, enoki, and others.Similarly, artichoke hearts is another mushroom substitute that I do not recommend. (The only dish I can think of where it may work is pizza.) There is also quite a bit of overlap between categories. Mushrooms will often fall into multiple different areas.