What to use instead of cremini mushrooms
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Browned in a pan as the savoury base of a dish
They give up their water first and only then brown, and that browning plus their natural glutamates is where the meaty depth in a stroganoff comes from.
White button mushroomsRan out
Match by weight
Milder and paler with the same water content, so they brown on the same schedule. The gap in flavour is much smaller than the gap in price.
Portobello caps, gills scraped outRan out
Match by weight
Deeper and darker, and the gills will turn a cream sauce grey if left in. They shrink further, so cut them thicker.
Fresh shiitake, stems removedRan out
3/4 the weight of fresh cremini
Much more assertive and distinctly aromatic, and they stay chewy through a long simmer instead of going soft.
Oyster mushroomsRan out
Match by weight
Cook in half the time and go silky rather than meaty. They brown poorly because they hold less water and burn at the edges first.
Dried porcini, rehydratedRan out
30 g dried + 1 cup hot water per 250 g fresh, soaking liquid strained and used
Far more concentrated and it darkens the whole dish brown. Texture is chewier, and the soaking liquid is half the value, so do not tip it out.
What doesn't work: Tinned mushrooms drained from the can. They have already been cooked through in brine, so there is no water left to drive off and no browning available, and the tinned metallic note carries all the way through the finished sauce.
Savoury depth in a soup or sauce when you have no mushrooms at all
Half of what a mushroom contributes is glutamate, and that part can be replaced by anything else carrying the same savoury load.
Dried mushroom powderRan out
1 tbsp powder per 250 g fresh mushrooms
All of the depth and none of the texture, and it darkens a pale sauce. Bloom it in the fat before the liquid goes in.
Soy sauce or tamariRan out
1 tbsp per 250 g fresh mushrooms
Savoury and salty, so take a pinch of salt out elsewhere. It tints a cream sauce beige.
White misoRan out
2 tsp whisked into a little of the hot liquid, per 250 g fresh mushrooms
Rounder and slightly sweet, and it thickens the sauce a touch. Add it off the heat or it turns grainy.
Tomato paste cooked out in the fatRan out
1 tbsp fried 2 min per 250 g fresh mushrooms
Savoury with an acid edge the mushrooms would not have brought, and it turns the sauce rust-coloured.
What doesn't work: Truffle oil. It is one synthetic aroma compound with no savoury depth behind it, so the sauce still tastes thin while smelling loudly of something that is not in the dish.