Every year between June and November you can collect delicious, fresh chanterelles in sparse mixed forests. Particularly promising are rarely used forest paths, on the edges of which there is a lot of moss and there is also plenty of sunshine. Here the yellow fruit bodies often hide in the moss cushion - but once you have found one, others are not far away. Chanterelles always appear in groups. The tasty mushrooms are often very dirty and therefore need to be cleaned properly and often washed. We'll explain how this works in the following article.
How do you wash chanterelles correctly?
Wash chanterelles by dipping them briefly in cold water or rinsing them under running water. Carefully remove the dirt and then let the mushrooms drain in a sieve and dry on a clean kitchen towel. The washing time should be a few seconds to avoid loss of aroma and consistency.
Pre-clean chanterelles you have collected yourself in the forest
You should pre-sort the mushrooms you find in the forest - and sort out the false chanterelle right away, because even a single specimen can spoil an entire dish! – and roughly pre-clean. Specimens that look very unsightly, such as those that are already very dark and/or already have a rubbery consistency, are best left in the forest. These are no longer usable for consumption. Even very large specimens should not be taken home with you. Cutting lengthwise, as with porcini and other tubular mushrooms, is basically not necessary, as chanterelles are rarely attacked by maggots. However, you should remove the coarsest dirt as well as any corrosion and other damaged areas.
Roughly clean and wash the chanterelles – this is how it works
When you get home, clean the chanterelles straight away. Like all mushrooms, they only last for a short time and should therefore be processed immediately. Take the small mushrooms one at a time in your hand and cut off the bottom part of the stem. Carefully check the hat with a small knife and carefully scrape off any dirt and any forest residue. Then put the mushrooms briefly in a water bath:
- Fill a bowl with fresh, cold water.
- Put in the mushrooms.
- Wash them gently by submerging them in the water.
- Check whether there is still dirt on the mushrooms.
- Then take the mushrooms out of the water with a slotted spoon.
- Put the chanterelles in a colander and let them drain.
- Then dry them well in a clean kitchen towel.
Instead of bathing the mushrooms, you can put them in a sieve and rinse them vigorously with a hand shower. But no matter how you wash the chanterelles: the mushrooms should only come into contact with the water for a few seconds. Otherwise, they will quickly become saturated with the moist liquid and later acquire an unpleasantly rubbery consistency when frying, not to mention the loss of aroma and taste. You may have already heard or read that you generally shouldn't wash mushrooms: In principle, this is true. On the other hand, chanterelles in particular are very dirty - because they are hidden deep in the moss - and can only be thoroughly cleaned by washing.
Then prepare or preserve fresh chanterelles
After cleaning and washing, you can blanch the chanterelles and then freeze them. The small mushrooms can also be frozen raw, but then they often become bitter. If you want to use them immediately, they taste best when prepared simply: fry small diced onions in bacon in a pan. Add the raw (not blanched!) or frozen chanterelles, a generous splash of cream and a teaspoon of sauce stock. Now let the sauce boil briefly and then simmer for about ten minutes.
Classic kitchen trick: Clean chanterelles with flour
Since chanterelles often have a lot of dirt that is difficult to remove, you can also use this old kitchen trick to clean the mushrooms.
Materials needed:
- fresh chanterelles
- a sieve
- Flour (Type 405 is enough!)
- a large spoon
- a freezer bag
- and kitchen paper
How to clean the chanterelles with flour:
Put the chanterelles to be cleaned into the freezer bag and add one to two tablespoons of flour. Close the bag - bags with a zipper are particularly practical for this purpose - and distribute the flour evenly by shaking gently until all the mushrooms are covered with a thin white layer. Place the floured mushrooms in the sieve and rinse off the flour and dirt with cold water. Since the dirt adheres to the flour, it is removed at the same time. Drain the mushrooms well on some kitchen paper.
Tip
Instead of washing the chanterelles, you can tackle stubborn dirt with just a damp kitchen towel. This has the advantage that the mushrooms do not absorb as much water - washed chanterelles are always clean, but they also release a lot of water when frying and are therefore more likely to stew in their own juice. Washing is therefore only useful if you want to prepare the mushrooms with a sauce.
