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Substitutions · 28 dishes here use it
Water first, flavor second. Crowd the pan and they steam and stay squeaky; give them room and leave them alone and they brown and go meaty. Salt only after the browning starts.
Everything below is judged against that job. A swap that covers it is a swap; one that only looks similar is not.
4 of the 28 dishes here that mention mushrooms list it as optional — 14% of them. In those, the correct substitution is nothing.
Functional substitution system
For mushrooms, the page's working definition is: Water first, flavor second. Crowd the pan and they steam and stay squeaky; give them room and leave them alone and they brown and go meaty. Salt only after the browning starts. The swap cards below are judged against that job rather than visual resemblance.
Job → candidate → side effects → small test → correct.
1 · Job
What is the missing ingredient doing?
2 · Candidate
Choose the shelf item that replaces that function.
3 · Side effects
Check water, fat, salt, acid, sweetness, and texture.
4 · Small test
Change a spoonful or small portion first when possible.
5 · Correct
Taste again and move only the axis that is still wrong.
Instead · 1
an ounce dried per half pound fresh, and keep the soaking liquid
Instead · 2
one medium eggplant per half pound
Instead · 3
one for one
These dishes list mushrooms as optional. They were written to work without it, so no ratio is needed and nothing has to be bought.
These need it and are short enough that nothing hides: 4 required ingredients or fewer. Make the swap a decision rather than a repair.
The company mushrooms keeps in this library, counted off required ingredients. A swap that argues with the top two is the wrong swap, whatever a chart says.