Milk mushrooms are large mushrooms of the russula family, common in deciduous and mixed forests. In the West, they are practically unknown, but in Russia they have been present on the table for a long time. When properly processed, milk mushrooms can be used to prepare a wide variety of dishes.
How to fry milk mushrooms
Traditionally in Russia, milk mushrooms were salted in large tubs, as a result of which they received a fragrant, tasty, juicy and meaty snack. However, they can be cooked in other ways, including fried in a pan.
In ancient times in Russia, milk mushrooms were called "tsars" and were considered almost the only mushrooms suitable for pickling.
Since milk mushrooms contain a lot of bitterness, and the flesh of such mushrooms itself is a little harsh, they should be properly processed for cooking. With fresh mushrooms, you should first thoroughly clean the inside of the cap - thanks to this, you will get rid of some of the bitterness. After that, the milk mushrooms should be soaked in a large amount of cold water for a day, then change the water and leave for another 1-2 days.
The soaked milk mushrooms must be washed, put in a saucepan, covered with cold water and brought to a boil. Then the water from the pan should be drained and taken clean. After the milk mushrooms boil again, you need to add some salt to the water and cook the mushrooms over low heat for about an hour.
The cooked milk mushrooms should be taken out, dried and cut into pieces. Only after that, these mushrooms can be fried in the usual way for you - they will turn out to be delicious and very soft.
Fried milk mushrooms with buckwheat
From the mushrooms cooked in a pan, you can make an old Russian dish - fried mushrooms with buckwheat. This requires the following ingredients:
- 1 kg of fresh milk mushrooms;
- 2 glasses of buckwheat;
- 3 glasses of water;
- 2 heads of onions;
- vegetable oil for frying;
- greens;
- salt and black pepper to taste.
Peel and soak fresh milk mushrooms in water as described above. Then put in a saucepan, bring to a boil and change the water. After boiling, season with salt and simmer for 60 minutes.
Cut the milk mushrooms into small pieces, place in a skillet with heated vegetable oil and cook over low heat until tender. Add the diced onions 10 minutes before the end of cooking.
If the milk mushrooms start to burn, add a little warm water to them.
While the mushrooms are roasting, cook the buckwheat. To do this, sort out the cereal, rinse it several times and fill it with 3 glasses of water. After boiling, salt and cook until the buckwheat becomes soft and the water boils away completely.
Add the cooked buckwheat to the pan to the fried milk mushrooms, mix everything and cover with a lid so that the dish is infused. Then stir again, arrange on plates, garnish with herbs and serve with sour cream.
