Learn about exotic mushrooms in Japanese cuisine (1)

Mushrooms are a nutritious food, rich in minerals, vitamins and very good for health. In Japan, it is possible to find about 5,000 different types of fungi, accounting for 1/4 of the world's known fungi. In cuisine, the Japanese see mushrooms as the quintessential food of autumn.

According to statistics, about 70 types of mushrooms can be eaten in Japan. Among them, matsutake mushroom, also known as Tung velvet mushroom, is evaluated to be gold standard because of its aroma and taste. The characteristic of matsutake is the aroma and fatty taste of mushroom meat. This mushroom is precious because it is rare. Unlike other woody fungi, other matsutake cannot be cultivated, but can only be harvested in the wild.

Natural matsutake mushrooms are now very few.

Matsutake mushroom habitats are red pine forests, they grow on the roots of living pine trees. As a result, the sight of little mushroom ears around the stumps in a natural pine forest is easy to see. The new mushroom matsutake ears often hide under the pine leaves. The brown color of the mushroom ears is similar to the color of the leaves and the soil so the mushroom hunters must pay attention to discover them. Currently, matsutake mushrooms are difficult to find due to their very small number. But it is not so that people pick up any mushroom ears found, mushroom hunters only harvest mushroom ears 4cm or more.

Next is Shiitake mushroom , also known as shiitake mushroom . This mushroom has a short body, thick flesh. The inexpensive and scarce shiitake mushrooms like matsutake should be popularly used to make food in Japan. In nature, shiitake mushrooms often grow on oak stalks and chestnut trees have died. Currently, artificial mushroom growing techniques have grown strongly, so the mushroom production provided to the market is mostly mushrooms grown by farmers.

Shiitake.

When growing mushrooms, they cut the oak stalks into pieces of wood about 1 meter long. Drill holes in the piece of wood and look like a mushroom in it, use the tanegoma to seal the hole. Bring the wood sections that have been cultivated in the silage under the leaves and dried branches of the sam plant within 2 years to breed. When the nursery time has met the requirements, at this time, the mushroom begins to form fruiting bodies, and the wooden blocks are set up in rows in the cool pine forest.

Fruiting bodies have good respiratory conditions in an open environment, so within 20 hours they develop into stout mushroom ears. Wait until the spreading mushroom cap looks like a parachute that can be harvested. The bottom of the mushroom cap has numerous small trenches, but due to the thick flesh of the mushroom, these trenches do not make the fungus spongy but on the contrary they are tough and have a good taste. Stir-fried shiitake mushrooms or fruit stew are regular dishes in the daily menu of Japanese people. Dried shiitake mushrooms can be used as long-term reserve food. Although it is not fragrant and rich in matsutake, it has the advantage of being popular and convenient.

Cordyceps sinensis mushrooms with quite scary shapes are a rare fungus that not everyone has a chance to find them. Fungi live on the bodies of insects such as moths, cicadas, bees, so they are also called moths or moths. Since ancient times, people have used this mushroom to make medicine.

Cordyceps sinensis mushrooms are quite scary.

Mannentake mushrooms , also known as Ganoderma mushrooms, grow mainly in tree stumps or on perennial trees in the forest. Mushroom ears are shaped like a fan, ranging from 10 to 15cm wide. In Japanese, mannentake means mushroom for thousands of years, referring to this rare mushroom that has a thousand years. In the past, Ganoderma was considered an advanced medicine, symbolizing longevity. Therefore, Ganoderma is highly recommended, the image of this mushroom appears much in the belief culture and art. The paintings of lingzhi are often solemnly hung in the house by Japanese people.

Ganoderma.

Hachijo-jima volcanic island is located about 300km south of Tokyo. There are some very special fungi on the island, collectively called the luminous mushroom Hachijo-jima. Among them is Yakotake mushroom named Mycena chlorophos . Yakotake mushrooms thrive in the early summer to the end of autumn, around May to September each year. During the day, they look no different from regular mushrooms, but by night, we will see these tiny mushroom ears emit a beautiful blue light. In the light of yakotake, one can read the text on the book. In fact, yakotake mushrooms glow continuously within 72 hours after they have fully developed, but this phenomenon can only be observed most clearly at night.

Yakotake mushroom glows.

Enashirashi-take mushroom , scientific name is Favolaschia pezizaeformis , usually grows in the middle of the grooves on dry palm leaves, the diameter of the mushroom body is only about 3mm. When night falls, the tiny mushroom bodies begin to shine. They are scattered everywhere like sparkling stars on the ground.

Mushroom Favolaschia pezizaeformis

According to researchers, there are about 40 bioluminescent fungi in the world. Hachijo-jima Island has recorded seven species of mushrooms of this type. Why are mushrooms glowing? It is theorized that glowing mushrooms to attract night-active animals help spread gametes. But for whatever reason, the sight of glowing mushrooms is always what tourists want to admire most when going to Hachijo-jima island during the rainy season.

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