Novice cook with a newbie question here, decided to cook something once per week to start going down a list in a cookbook I bought.Next recipe calls for dried Shiitake Mushrooms to be used in a broth, essentially simmering the caps for ten minutes then disposing of them. Most references to Shiitake that I've seen strongly advise soaking them in room temperature or cold water for about 4-8 hours before use but would that apply in my case since I'm disposing of the caps anyway? I'd just do it anyway but I'm worried it might fuck up the intended flavor.
>>22278128You soak them to rehydrate them if you're gonna be eating them. But maybe you don't need to do that to make a broth with dried shrooms.
>>22278128You have to be at least 35 and cook twice a week to post here, kid
>>22278128One benefit of soaking them is a lot of worms in leech out the mushrooms and float in the soaking water for easy removal.
>>22278128Don't throw them out, they will still have plenty of mileage after only 10 minutes. I crumble/mince them and put them into broth and it takes longer than that to even soften. Your recipe seems bland, you should look into the teachings of Guy Fieri and his concept of Flavourtown.
>>22278160What was bland was the last thing I did. It was this fancy (compared to my standards) oatmeal that was very simple to make and had blueberries, raisins, blackberries, amaretto, almond milk, and some other stuff but somehow it ended up tasting like regular old oatmeal. I don't mind since I like regular old oatmeal but I'm not sure what I did wrong.Smelled divine though.
>>22278138>cook twice a weekdamn am I the only one living in servitude to his boomer parents and cooking 7 nights a week
>>22278138
>>22278138I'm 69 and eat/cook weiners(hot dogs) everyday. What say you about me?
>>22278339living the dream
>>22278177>amaretto in oatmealThat sounds dope. Did you salt your oats while you were cooking them? All grains need a little salt to help bring out the flavour. You could even toast them in a dry frying pan or oven before cooking them next time, might enhance the flavour a little (plus plenty of sweetness like maple syrup or agave syrup, oatmeal can be kinda bland as it is). Don't give up on your recipes, try small changes, amend, adjust, and they'll be perfect. Then one day you make it for some cute girl and she'll want to marry you. (I hope this makes sense i'm on a cocktail of substances rn lol)
>>22278128OP update: Soaked them and the dish came out beautifully today, thanks everyone!>>22278554What's confusing me is that I did all of that as per the recipe's instructions and it still came out like regular oatmeal. The only thing I can think of is that having to substitute Bulgur Wheat with Steel Cut Oats (seems like Bulgur Wheat is just, like, non-existent within 30 miles of my location somehow) seriously fucked up the recipe in a way I didn't expect.
>>22278845>dish came out beautifullyYay! Good job
>>22278177add some salt
>>22278155They are not worms, once you grow them to adult Garloids thet get valuable.
