Honey Mushrooms Crackling

Cooking Honey Mushrooms the Right Way

Honey mushrooms (Armillaria ostoyae) can be amazing to eat, but here’s the catch—you absolutely can’t eat them raw. They’ll mess with your stomach if you don’t cook them long enough. Think 25–30 minutes of boiling before they’re safe. No shortcuts. Some folks even get flu-like symptoms if they undercook them, so better safe than sorry.

Also, the caps are what you want. The stems? Way too tough. And drying them isn’t really an option—they just don’t turn out well that way. But when you do it right, honey mushrooms can be turned into some seriously good food.

Honey Mushroom “Cracklings”

This is one of those recipes that sounds odd until you taste it. The mushrooms crisp up and end up like these savory little snacks. You can eat them straight from the pan or pile them on bread with a cold beer.

What you’ll need:

• young honey mushroom caps

• salt

• ground pepper

• ground caraway

• paprika

• dried garlic

• plain flour

• oil or lard (whatever fat you prefer for frying)

How to do it:

1. Prep the mushrooms. Wash the caps and slice them into strips—somewhere around half a centimeter thick.

2. Boil first. This is the most important step: toss them in salted water and boil hard for at least 20–30 minutes. Drain well afterward and let them dry off a bit.

3. Season. Into a bowl they go. Add your spices—pepper, caraway, paprika, garlic, a pinch of salt. Toss them around until coated.

4. Flour them up. Dust with flour and mix again so every piece gets a light coating.

5. Fry. Heat a pan with a thin layer of fat. Don’t overcrowd it—if the mushrooms pile on top of each other, they’ll steam instead of fry. Keep them moving in the pan until they’re crisp and golden.

6. Eat. Transfer to a plate and enjoy. They’re great as is, but even better with bread or toast.

That’s it—the first honey mushroom recipe in the bag. More ideas coming soon

Want to learn more about the Health benefits of the honey mushrooms check out our dedicated article : Armillaria ostoyae: A Hidden Forest Treasure with Many Benefits

And if you want to learn more on those surprising fungi you can check this out : Wikipedia