Growing Mushrooms in Bags At Home + Recipe For Mushroom Chicharon

     Ever since I got into gardening I've dreamt of having enough space to raise a vegetable garden. One with herbs and hydroponic organic vegetables I can grow for our own consumption. I have tried planting scallions, chili peppers, ginger and tomatoes. We started planting during the rainy season so we weren't very successful. I found out that rain can actually melt your baby plants. Then I saw Homegrown Mushrooms on Instagram and immediately bought a few bags to try growing them at home. 

     

     The mushroom bags come in a box with care instructions printed on them. I received them looking like this after I have removed the plastic covering on the top. A 6-bag order comes with a pretty basket/tray for free.  These bags should be kept in a shady place with adequate ventilation away from direct sunlight. Once you have decided where to grow them, they require a spritz of cool water about a foot away at least twice a day. If the weather is hot, it would help to sit a gallon of water or a wet rag beside the bags for some humidity. 

   

     After a few days, you will begin to notice the first signs of life. Mini pin heads begin to appear on the top of the bag. Just keep up with the water spritzing and they will grow a whole lot bigger in about a week.

     I waited for a week before I did the first harvest. It was exciting. The mushrooms will keep sprouting for about a month or two. As the mushrooms you get keep getting smaller and the harvest fewer, the bag will have reached the end of its life. After the last of the mushrooms have been harvested and the bag has reached its last productive period lies the question will I do this again? Probably not anytime soon. Maybe someday when I have built myself a better garden.  It felt good to be able to try growing my own food even if it was just about 2 percent of our actual consumption and not really cost effective. I was pretty proud of myself after having been a known plant murderer. At least for now I know I can grow mushrooms if  I wanted to.

     Here is the Mushroom Chicharon I did with the first harvest. It is crunchy and full of umami flavor at only 80 calories per serving. I double fried them in hot oil for that extra crunch.























Mushroom Chicharon

Ingredients
¼ kilo mushrooms
2 eggwhites
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
¼ cup cornstarch
1 cup oil
salt

Instructions
1. Brush off any dirt from the mushrooms. Don't wash them!
2. Trim off the tough stem ends from the mushrooms.
3. Add the eggwhites, salt, ground pepper and cornstarch and mix well.
4. Heat up the oil and fry the mushrooms about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain in a colander.
5. Fry the mushrooms a second time until crisp and golden. Drain well on paper towels.
6. Sprinkle with some more salt.

Note: you can add flavoring to the breading mix by adding garlic powder or dried chili flakes.