Shitake mushrooms are a legendary gourmet treat, used for centuries in Asia as both food and remedy.

Sweet Simmered Mushrooms - Shitake No Nimono:

http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/side/veg/swtsimmershroom.html:

4 medium to large dried shitake mushrooms

Simmering Sauce
1 C water
1 T sugar
2 T mirin
2 T soy sauce
2 T sake
½ tsp. dashi-no-moto (kelp) powder (see note above)

Serves 2

Place mushrooms in a medium bowl and add warm water to cover. Soak dried mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes drain mushrooms and squeeze them dry. Cut off the discard stems.

Prepare simmering sauce by combining all ingredients in a medium saucpan. Add mushrooms to simmering sauce and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately reduce heat to medium-low and simmer mushrooms for 15-20 minutes, or until the liquid had almost all evaporated and mushrooms are well coated with the sauce. Divide mushrooms and any remaining sauce between two small serving bowls.

Shiitake Mushroom Soup:

http://www.bloodroot.com/assets/html/recipes/fall/s_shiitake.htm:

This soup is the one to make for someone who doesn't feel up to par. It is more effective than the proverbial chicken soup since shiitake mushrooms are known to enhance the immune system. It also tastes wonderful.

1) Soak 12 dried shiitake mushrooms in 2 qt. water for ½ hour, or until they are soft. Remove them and squeeze the water back into the bowl. Soaking liquid should be reserved for the broth. Thinly slice the shiitakes. Set aside.

2) Chop 1 small onion, thinly slice 1 carrot, peel and slice 1 small yam.

3) In a soup kettle, heat 1-2 Tb. oil. First sauté the shiitakes until they turn golden, then add the onion. At the same time add 1 Tb. sesame oil. As the onions begin to brown, add the carrot and yam.

4) Next add 1 c. Chinese cabbage, sliced thinly, 1 clove garlic, chopped, and ½ Tb. fresh ginger, grated. Turn all vegetables in the pot frequently. Add more cooking oil only if necessary.

5) When vegetables are well-browned, add reserved shiitake soaking liquid and bring to a boil. Add a few leaves of fresh spinach, 1/3 c. shoyu (soy sauce), and fresh grated pepper. Taste and correct seasoning.

6) Serve hot, with sliced scallions on top. Optional: Cooked soba noodles (Japanese pasta made of buckwheat) add a pleasant texture to this soup.

Serves 6

Shitake Mushroom Saute:

http://www.ccsn.nevada.edu/pa/press/shitake.html:

Makes 4 Servings

16 Ounces Shitake, small dice
1½ Ounces shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ounce butter
3 ounces carrot, julienned
1 ounce snow peas, julienned
2 ounces sake
½ ounce chicken glace
½ teaspoon thyme, minced
season to taste salt and pepper

Peel carrot and julienne.
Clean and julienne snow peas.
Mince shallot, garlic, and thyme.
Saute shallot and garlic in butter. Add mushrooms and saute.
Add carrot, and snow peas and saute.Deglaze with saki and reduce au sec. Remove from heat and add glace, thyme, and truffle oil.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Shitake recipes are innumerable and delicious. Shitake is also one of the most thoroughly researched and documented medicinal mushrooms. Not only do they have excellent nutritive value; they also are the source of at least two important components with proven pharmacological effects--LEM (Lentinula edodes mycelium extract) and Lentinin. These two components have demonstrated strong antitumor activity.

The initial antitumor research was performed in 1969 by Tetsuro Ikekawa at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, along with colleagues at the National Cancer Center Research Institute in Tokyo. The researchers found that water extracts of shiitake and several other mushrooms collected in the wild produced high rates of tumour inhibition in mice (72 to 92%). Ikekawa later identified a polysaccharide in shiitake called lentinan as having powerful antitumor activity.

Part of any positive medicinal effects of shiitake may result from it serving as a dietary supplement, particularly the provision of various amino acids such as isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, and valine, as well as vitamins B1, B2, B12 and also mineral salts.

Regular intake may prevent rickets, especially in infants, which could be due to a disorder of phosphorus and calcium metabolism caused by vitamin D deficiency. Lentinula edodes is very rich in the provitamin - not present in quantity in vegetables. Ergosterol is converted to vitamin D in presence of sunlight. Vitamin D increases resistance against illnesses and has preventive and curative effects on colds.

Lentinula edodes also contains adenine and choline, which may prevent the occurrence of cirrhosis of the liver as well as vascular sclerosis. Tyrosinase contained in Lentinula edodes tends to lower blood pressure. Two other constituents which have been isolated from Lentinula edodes tend to reduce serum cholesterol.

Like many medicinal mushrooms, Shiitake acts by enhancing various immune system functions rather than attacking the tumor cells directly. Shiitake is used medically for any and all diseases involving depressed immune function including cancer, AIDS, environmental allergies, yeast infections, and frequent flu and colds. In addition, contains compounds effective in lowering cholesterol and treating high blood pressure.

In rare cases, there is an allergic dermatological reaction to Shitake.