This risotto omits the butter and cream that is traditionally added just before finishing the dish. To make sure your risotto is as creamy and silky as possible, choose short- or medium-grain brown rice. This is crucially important because these are the varieties that emit enough starch to make for creamy risotto. Use parboiled rice to bring the prep time down!
To intensify the mushroom flavour of this dish, add a little of the water that the shiitake mushrooms were soaked in! Parboiled brown rice is readily available in supermarkets.
The amazing nutritional properties of mushrooms are too often overlooked, but they are brim-full of goodness. An important source of B vitamins, copper and vitamin K, most mushrooms also contain beta-glucans, which have shown to have an immunity-stimulating effect. Beta-glucans may participate in the physiological processes related to the metabolism of fats in the human body and can contribute to reductions in body weight. Besides these healthy benefits, all mushrooms are a rich source of umami and the darker the mushroom the more umami it contains.
Umami, the fifth primary taste
Until the early 20th century, only four basic tastes were believed to exist: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Thanks to Dr. Kikunae Ikeda, we now know that a fifth taste exists that in fact has been of vital importance throughout our culinary history. Umami, a loanword from the Japanese characters for “delicious” and “taste”, is often described as a savoury, brothy, rich or meaty taste sensation. The more umami present in food, the more flavourful it will be.
Wild mushrooms and brown rice risotto
Ingredients
- 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 small onion
- ½ cup wild mushrooms
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 150 gr. parboiled brown rice
- 250 ml chicken stock
- 10 gr. grated parmesan
- Parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Boil the kettle and soak the dried shiitakes for at least 5 minutes.
- Finely chop the onion and wipe the mushrooms with some kitchen paper before slicing them up.
- Drain and slice the shiitakes (reserve some of the soaking juices to intensify the mushroom flavours).
- In a pan, heat a little olive oil and sweat the onion for about a minute on a low-medium heat.
- Add the mushrooms and rice and cook for another minute, stirring well to coat the rice with a little oil.
- Add a ladle of stock and let it absorb, frequently stirring. When nearly fully absorbed, add another ladle and repeat the process until the rice is done – about 20-25 minutes.
- Stir in the grated parmesan right at the end.
- Serve with a generous sprinkling of parsley.