Shiitake and broth magic

Hard to believe these dishes and treats are made from thirteen mushrooms and a spoonful of broth.

I’ve actually taken a tiny bit of artistic licence there – it was more a ladle than a spoon.

Still, you get the point: we can produce wonders with a couple of really good ingredients and very little effort. The ingredients? Dried shiitake mushrooms (thirteen, to be precise), the water they were soaked in and some homemade jellied beef broth. Very good broth – very jellied!

That’s all there was to it.

Those humble ingredients produced a nutritious topping, a cooling drink and some hydrating ices. Some of the ices were, admittedly, mixed with a little kefir to make them easier to eat because (a) I don’t like giving my dogs water ice cubes straight out of the freezer and (b) my dogs don’t have a great talent for waiting for ices to soften.

This beef bone broth was made from a huge bone from the butcher, simmered with some apple vinegar and lots of water. Left to its own devices for several hours, it gave me litres of fatty beef bone broth, full of goodness in the form of vitamins and minerals, collagen, glucosamine and chondroitin. Good for bones, joints, connective tissue, muscle and nerve function and the gut lining. And it freezes very well too – for use in future toppings or baked products. Or more ices!

 

        Frozen jellied beef broth

I managed to get my hands on a huge bag of dried shiitake. As soon as I saw them, I knew how good they would be for my older dog, who suffers from an autoimmune condition. Lots of extra mushrooms – which she loves anyway – will do her no harm and probably quite a bit of good. And dried mushrooms are always good to have on hand for human and dog dinners!

Thirteen of those mushrooms were soaked for a few hours. They aren’t gritty at all so the water, a lovely clear amber brown, was added to the pan along with the mushrooms. Then came the jellied broth and – as an afterthought – a sprig of thyme.

         

This cooked on a medium heat for 35 minutes. I left the mushrooms to cool in their ‘juices’. Most were blitzed with some of the fluid to create a topping. The mushrooms can be let out with more fluid to get the preferred consistency. The remainder of the mushrooms were blitzed with more water to produce a cooling drink. Lastly, some blitzed mushrooms were mixed with kefir and frozen to make savoury and hydrating ices for hot summer days.

All with thirteen shiitake mushrooms.

 

 

 

Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinus edodes) are renowned for both their taste and medicinal qualities, for dogs as well as humans. They are high in fibre and contain significant amounts of protein, as well as B vitamins, minerals and metabolites. Their compounds are said to have antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, immunomodulatory and anti-cancer activities. Shiitake mushrooms have been used medicinally in humans for diseases such as cancer and heart disease and also conditions including diabetes, hypertension and hepatitis[1] and canine studies have found that these mushrooms are a potential supplement to combat diseases such as obesity in ageing dogs[2].

Note:

Shiitake bring real benefits, but they are naturally high in copper so shouldn’t be overused. Keep an eye on overall diet to make sure levels stay in balance and avoid excessive intake. When pairing, look at copper-light ingredients like beef, vegetables, white fish and salmon and avoid combining with shellfish or beef liver.

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References

[1] Bisen P.S., Baghel, R.K.,  Sanodiya B.S., Thakur G.S., Prasad G.B.K.S.,  Lentinus edodes: A Macrofungus with Pharmacological Activities, Current Medicinal Chemistry; Volume 17, Issue 22, Year 2010, .DOI: 10.2174/092986710791698495

[2] Kusaba A, Arai T. Shiitake mushroom powder supplementation increase antioxidative activity in dogs. Front Vet Sci. 2024 Jun 19;11:1355560. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1355560. PMID: 38962708; PMCID: PMC11220243.

Important Considerations:

  • Always consult your veterinarian before making any significant dietary changes, particularly where there are pre-existing health conditions or dietary restrictions.
  • If you are feeding commercial food, check the label for ingredients before giving more. Excessive intake of any foods can have adverse effects.
  • Ensure (where possible) that you use high-quality, organic products specifically formulated for pets (or better still, human grade ingredients) to avoid any potential adverse effects.
  • Introduce new foods gradually to avoid adverse effects such as gastrointestinal upset or diarrhoea.
  • I provide nutritional information purely as a helpful guide. Nutritional information on ingredients is obtained from the US Department of Agriculture’s FoodData Central site (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/index.html) and any nutritional information provided in recipes is based on an online calculator: calories and other information will vary based on brands, ingredients and other factors.
  • Check nutrient levels and recommendations for your dog’s weight, age and activity. For example this nutritional guideline produced by FEDIAF.
  • I am not a professional canine nutritionist but supporting research is cited.
  • The recipes shared were created by me and tested in my kitchen – and tasted and approved by our doggy friends!