Portobello mushroom
Agaricus bisporus · Fungus
Top 10 pairings
The portobello is not a separate species but the fully grown adult of the ordinary brown mushroom (the cremini, itself a brown strain of Agaricus bisporus) — a button left on the bed until its cap opens flat and wide, 10–15 cm (4–6 in) across, and its once-hidden gills tear open and darken to chocolate-brown. That extra maturity, plus a deliberately drier growing finish, gives it a low-moisture, dense, almost steak-like flesh and a deep, concentrated, meaty umami that the small white button never develops, which is why a single cap is grilled or roasted as a vegetarian "steak" or stacked into a burger bun.
Picking a good onedrag
Closed, dry, glossySlimy, black-gilled, sour
Veil just splitEveryday bestThe all-rounder: fry, roast, stuff, or slice into anything.
Cap surfaceDull, a bruise mark or two
Under the capVeil just torn, gills pale pink
Cut stemCut end faintly tan, stem firm
Smell at the gillsMild, sweet, mushroomy
These cues are Mushroom's, and hold across its varieties; where this one differs, its own page says so.
What you get from one
97%
Edible part
18 g · dirty stem butt off
19 g
Weight each
each one
Keeping ittap a temperature
A domestic fridge holds it about 5× longer than the counter.
95%
Humidity
Paper bag, never sealed
Airflow