How to clean and cook Xerocomus boletes

Xerocomus boletes are pleasant, tasty mushrooms, but they have two quirks worth getting used to: they darken quickly and turn mushy easily. Once you know a few simple tricks, these traits stop getting in the way.

Let's walk through the whole kitchen journey of these boletes: how to clean them, whether to boil them first, how to fry and preserve them. And let's start with the most important rule: don't delay.

Don't delay after the forest

Xerocomus boletes spoil faster than firm mushrooms. Their soft, watery flesh turns mushy, darkens and attracts worms within a day.

So the main rule is this: get to work on your mushrooms as soon as you're back from the forest. The fresher the bolete, the easier it is to clean and the tastier it will be on the table.

If you can't do it right away, keep the mushrooms in the fridge, but for no longer than a day. Boletes that have sat around lose their firmness and flavor.

How to clean Xerocomus boletes

Cleaning these boletes is easy; you usually don't need to peel them.

1. Trim off the lower, dirty part of the stem.
2. Use a knife or a brush to scrape off clinging moss, pine needles and sand.
3. Cut each mushroom open and check for worms; trim away any affected spots.
4. Rinse quickly in cold water, but don't soak them for long: these boletes absorb water and turn mushy.

In old mushrooms the spongy layer becomes loose and dark; it's better not to pick such mushrooms, and if you did, the sponge is worth cutting away. Young, firm boletes are the easiest to clean.

Do you need to boil Xerocomus boletes?

It all depends on the dish and the species.

For frying, young clean boletes can go without boiling, as long as they're well cleaned. Still, many home cooks boil them for 10–15 minutes and drain the water so the mushrooms darken less and come out cleaner.

For pickling and freezing, boiling is more or less a must: it makes the mushrooms safer to store and helps them hold their shape. So the rule is simple: you can fry them without boiling, but it's better to boil them before preserving.

How to fry Xerocomus boletes

Fried Xerocomus boletes with potatoes or onions make a simple, tasty dish.

1. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into pieces.
2. If you like, boil them for 10–15 minutes and drain in a colander.
3. Put them in a dry frying pan and cook off the excess moisture; these boletes hold quite a lot of it.
4. Add oil or butter and onion, and fry until done, 15–20 minutes.
5. Salt at the end; sour cream or fresh herbs make a nice addition.

Don't be alarmed if the mushrooms darken because of the bluing. It's a natural property of these boletes and doesn't affect flavor or safety.

Preserving, plus a few tips

Xerocomus boletes are less suited to pickling and drying than firm mushrooms, because they turn mushy and darken. If you do preserve them, choose the sturdiest species, such as the bay bolete, which holds its shape better than the small Xerocomus boletes.

A few general tips to finish:

• Pick young mushrooms: old ones turn mushy and spoil the texture of the dish.
• Don't soak these boletes for long; they absorb water like a sponge.
• Cook them right after the forest, without putting it off.
• Combine Xerocomus boletes with porcini, brown birch boletes or slippery jacks: together they're tastier and look better.

And, of course, it all starts with a good harvest. So you don't come home from the forest empty-handed, check the weather with our mushroom radar: it shows when moisture and warmth line up well for mushrooms to appear in mixed and coniferous forests.

Sources

• "Vyznachnyk hrybiv Ukrainy" (Identification Guide to the Mushrooms of Ukraine; Kyiv, Naukova Dumka publishing house).
• Xerocomus subtomentosus on GBIF, the global biodiversity database.
• Xerocomus on MycoBank, the international fungal nomenclature database.
• Xerocomus subtomentosus on Wikipedia.