Ingredient Spotlight: Porcini Powder

Like porcini mushrooms? You've got to get some porcini powder for your spice cupboard. This stuff is like umami-packed magic fairy dust for your food. Once you start sprinkling, it's hard to stop.

I've been keeping my eye out for porcini powder ever since I first read about it in David Tanis's recipe for Wild Mushroom Ragout in Heart of the Artichoke. I finally found it at Far West Fungi, the San Francisco mushroom vendor where Tanis likely finds his porcini powder, too!

It's worth whatever mountains you have to climb or specialty stores you have to comb to find this stuff. Porcini mushrooms are already next to truffles in their gourmet status, and this powder helps bring that same deep, savory, chocolatey flavor to...well, everything.

So far, I've added it to soup bases, risottos, cream-based pasta sauces, and casseroles. I've mixed a little scoop with starchy pasta water to make a quick sauce, and rubbed it into steaks before grilling. I've even sprinkled it over popcorn for a savory midnight snack. Any dish that could use an extra boost of deep umami flavor is a potential candidate for porcini powder.

This powder isn't cheap, I'll admit. This 4-ounce bag was a whopping $20, making it one of the most expensive seasonings in my cupboard. But a little really does go a long way, and this pouch has lasted me several months. The price is also not unreasonable considering how incredibly expensive actual porcini mushrooms can be.

If Far West Fungi is out of your way, look for porcini powder at gourmet and specialty grocery stores. You can also find it online:

• Porcini Powder from Far West Fungi, $5 for one ounce
• Porcini Mushroom Powder from Purcell Mountain Farms, $7.60 for four ounces
• Porcini Powder from JR Mushroom and Specialties, $9.00 for four ounces

Have you cooked with this seasoning before? What are your favorite uses?

(Images: Emma Christensen)

Comments (5)

Yum-ami is more like it. You can also buy the whole dried ones and blend yourself--not that expensive, even at Whole Foods.

I always get stuck getting dried ones. Never thought to get powder! What a great idea.

I have friends who had a very serious allergic reaction (blisters in their mouth and throat - went to the ER - in pain for weeks) because they used home-made dried shitake powder on their food. It's not a reaction that 100% of the population will have, but it's not an insignificant % of people either. The NYT had an article on this very thing in the Magazine Section a few months ago.

I would be cautious of this unless one is sure that it's 100% porcini. Not everyone will have this reaction, but if you do it will be bad.

I have seen these before but was always deterred by the price and what exactly to do with it. After you article it sounds perfect for our house!

I make my own porcini powder by grinding up dried porcinis in the dry blade container of my vita-mix. One of the best additions has been to pasta dough, replacing a bit of the flour with mushroom powder. It makes a homemade pasta with a wonderful, deep umami flavor. Usually toss with a sauce of mushroom, cream/milk, peas, shallots, wine and prosciutto.