I processed 200 g today.
Cut off just the very end of the roots. Shred the enoki mushrooms a little so that they lie flat.
Divide into six clumps. Hold the middle of a clump securely with your left hand. Use a fork with sharp tines.
With the mushrooms held down, stick the fork into the stems about 3 cm from the root end, and brush through the stems towards the root ends. You can see the removed dirt on the right top.
Before and after. On the left are mushrooms that have just been shredded apart. On the right, mushrooms that have been cleaned as described above. There are no gritty bits, and the tough chewy parts of the root ends are removed, too.
When each mushroom has been shredded apart, line them up neatly in a ziplock bag and freezer. You can wrap them first in plastic wrap if you prefer. Here are 2 packs worth.
These are the leftover parts: the root ends, and the tough and hard to eat bits.
By brushing through the stems with a fork, even the stem ends are nice and separate. Use in soups, chopped up in ankake dishes (with thick sauce), or use as-is. Blanch before using in cold dishes.
Here are some brown (mountain) enoki mushrooms.
If you want to make 'bacon wraps', since the mushrooms are already separted and there's no need to cut them, it's easy to make when you need one more item in a bento.
Or, you could make the bacon rolls and freeze them. Just pan fry them from frozen. It saves so much time in the morning.
