Shiitake mushrooms （Lentinus edodes）， the largest production and consumption of edible fungus in China. Drying is the most common processing approach for shiitake mushrooms， and the dried products should be rehydrated before consumption. In order to obtain the optimum condition for rehydration of dried shiitake mushrooms， hot-air dried samples were immersed in distilled water at 25， 45， 65 ℃ and 85 ℃ respectively， and the rehydration ratio， appearance， texture and flavor were investigated. The results showed that when sample was rehydrated at 45 ℃ for 270 min， the equilibrium rehydration ratio was 3.88， and the mushroom hyphae were fully rehydrated and swollen. Moreover， the shear force， elastic， resilience and chewiness of the rehydrated mushrooms were 1 290.28 g， 0.66 g， 0.34 g and 656.02 g， respectively， which were moderately soft and easy to cut. Furthermore， the content of sulfur compounds of the mushrooms rehydrated at 45 ℃ was relatively high as compared with other samples. Sulfur compounds such as 1，2，3，5，6-pentathiheptane （67.02%） and 1，2，4-trisulfide cyclopentane （29.06%） were rich in the flavor compounds. In conclusion， the rehydration characteristics， appearance， texture and flavor were significantly affected by water temperature， and the rehydrated mushrooms with higher quality were obtained at 45 ℃ for 270 min. The optimized condition can be used to guide the rehydration operation of shiitake mushrooms for cooking and food industry.