Salad of Hon-Shimeji and Korean Buckwheat Noodles in Broth

I created this for Iron Chef America to showcase one of the five different kinds of mushrooms (the secret ingredient) they gave us to work with. This particular strain, the hon-shimeji (shimeji is the group of mushrooms of which hon-shimeji is a type) is a cultivated variety; it’s a small, brown-capped, long-stemmed fungus that grows in clusters. Not one of the stronger-flavored mushrooms, its strength lies in its texture—the stems are a little chewier than most. I played up that att