Shiitake has an all-round use in Oriental and European cuisine, particularly in macrobiotic, vegetarian and lowering diets.
It is exceptionally low in calories.
It tastes great and it satiates you without giving you excessive caloric energy – shiitake eaters do not gain weight. Shiitake can substitute meat in your diet, or add an extra flavor to all kinds of meaty dishes. It goes very well with chicken and rabbit. It is a marvelous ingredient to be used in soups and sauces. Shiitake can be prepared in all traditional ways. It can be stewed, broiled, grilled, fritted, and even smoked. In order to bring out its distinct and unique mushroom taste, do not use too much water when stewing it and baste it no more than necessary. Instead of stewing, you can put shiitake in a microwave or hot-air oven. Pre-conditioned in this way, the mushrooms can then be further processed in a variety of different ways. Combined with ham and tomato purée they go very well with spaghetti or toasts, and with cream sauce they go well with pasta. They taste great when baked with broccoli or cauliflower and cheese. As with traditional mushrooms you can put stewed shiitake on a pan and fry them with browned onion and eggs. Stewed shiitake are also suitable for making salads e.g. in combination with tomatoes, lettuce or cabbage. You can coat shiitake in breadcrumb with beaten egg and fry as a wiener schnitzel, or broil them seasoned with nothing more than caraway and salt. If you decide to grill shiitake, coat them with a mixture of oil, crushed garlic, lemon juice and salt. It is also widely popular to marinade them e.g. in a blend of soya sauce and oil. Other recipes to prepare shiitake.

Dishes prepared from shiitake can be stored refrigerated and then warmed again. Fresh shiitake can be stored at temperatures between 1 - 5° Celsius for up to two weeks.