Category: General

• Each mushroom has a distinctly different umami component, by combining them it will multiply the umami flavor. Also try cooking with foods like meat and seafood for a nice complementary Umami taste.
• Guanylate starts to increase at 50℃(122℉) and peaks at 60-70℃(140-158℉). When you are preparing a soup, you should put the mushroom in before water begins to boil and heat it the soup slowly to maximize umami.

Moisture may be collected and absorbed inside the package.  If you do not smell foul odor, it should not be a problem. In addition, Mushrooms are also fresh produce and are breathing, which can also generate moisture. 

We do not use or apply disinfectants, antiseptics or any other agrichemicals.

Always cook your mushrooms before eating them. 2-3 minutes may be good enough if boiling.

Yes, however it is not recommended, as you will lose texture, flavor and nutrition when defrosted.

For best storage and flavor keep inside the refrigerator and consume within a week.  It is not recommended to Store mushrooms at room temperature due to accelerated respiration causing the mushroom to rapidly degrade in quality.

If you plan to use only some of the mushrooms store them in plastic wrap or keep them in zipper bag for later use. Once the package is opened though, it is recommended to consume the mushrooms as soon as possible.

Fresh mushrooms remain alive and breathing long after they are harvested, once packaged they enter hibernation. They are still breathing and may use up all the oxygen within the package, thus generating a little alcohol. However, it does not affect the quality of the product. If you leave the mushroom, for 30 minutes, outside the package the alcohol will be disappear  and regain its flavor.

Like other fresh produce, you should look for the following: 

• Resilience (less wrinkles on the caps)
•  Color of stems (no browning) 
•  No foul odor

By Mushroom type:

• Bunashimeji: Caps and stems have no shrinkage and are resilient.
• Bunapi: Pure white overall, have stems that have no shrinkage, and are resilient. 
• King Trumpet: No wrinkles on caps and are resilient with white stems.
• Maitake: Caps are not wet, resilient, and have no shrinkage.

Hokto mushrooms are fresh produce and are best consumed as soon as possible. A good rule of thumb is one week, unopened, in the refrigerator. 

Hokto’s mushrooms do not need to be washed. Our mushrooms are grown without any agrichemicals and even in our automated facilities human contact is kept to a minimum. If you still wish to clean them prior to consumption, wipe the mushroom or wash them gently.

Also by cleaning the mushrooms it will wash the majority of the beneficial nutrition that are water soluble, in addition to losing texture and flavor. Again, you don’t have to wash mushrooms if they are from Hokto.