Bailing Mushrooms

[Dejah]

I picked up a can of "Bailing mushrooms" on one of my jaunts to Winnipeg. I hadn't seen this type before and was curious. Opened it last night and the mushroom was huge! It was cut into chunks and looked like abalone. It sliced like abalone and had a similar texture when you bite into it. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry and didn't take any pictures. I had stir-fried it quickly with some asparagus - thinking to have a quick supper with the mushrooms and rice.

I googled it today and it is "abalone-like". My brother went to Wpg. this weekend, and I've sent him in search of more.

Anyone familiar with this fungi?

[jo-mel]

Here are some 'google' pictures of it:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=ba...ch+Images&gbv=2

Did it taste like mushrooms taste?

[Ben Hong]

COINCIDENCE

I am in Ottawa on a little driving trip with my brother. last night we had a family dinner and one of the dishes i recommended was Ba ling mushrooms. No one has heard of them before and when they were presented cooked like you would abalone, a couple of people thought that they were abalone. The texture is very dense. These were fresh mushrooms which in its fresh form stands about 4" tall and are pure white with a beige top. A perfect rendition of a delicious *ahem* phallic symbol.

Edited May 19, 2007 by Ben Hong (log)

[Magictofu]

They look like large oyster mushrooms. And if these are what I once tried in Chinatown, they also taste like oyster mushroom!

Can someone find the latin name? I'd like to verify my guess.

[Magictofu]

They look like large oyster mushrooms. And if these are what I once tried in Chinatown, they also taste like oyster mushroom!

Can someone find the latin name? I'd like to verify my guess.

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Thanks google! I found it! It is a kind of oyster mushroom (pleurotus ferulse).

[Dejah]

They look like large oyster mushrooms. And if these are what I once tried in Chinatown, they also taste like oyster mushroom!

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It wasn't so much the taste, but the texture that really caught my attention.

I will have to look out for fresh ones now.

[Magictofu]

They look like large oyster mushrooms. And if these are what I once tried in Chinatown, they also taste like oyster mushroom!

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It wasn't so much the taste, but the texture that really caught my attention.

I will have to look out for fresh ones now.

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King oyster mushrooms have a similar texture... they might be easier to find. I love these mushrooms!

[rooftop1000]

COINCIDENCE

I am in Ottawa on a little driving trip with my brother. last night we had a family dinner and one of the dishes i recommended was Ba ling mushrooms. No one has heard of them before and when they were presented cooked like you would abalone, a couple of people thought that they were abalone. The texture is very dense. These were fresh mushrooms which in its fresh form stands about 4" tall and are pure white with a beige top. A perfect rendition of a delicious *ahem* phallic symbol.  

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except one of the pictures linked makes them look like breast implants

t

[Ben Hong]

The ba ling mushrooms that we ate 3 times in the past 5 days, and have purchased to bring home, looked not at all like oyster mushrooms. The largest ones are about 4" tall, 1.5" thick around the extended barrel shaped stem and topped off with a small cap. The stem is creamy white and the cap is beige.

Edited May 24, 2007 by Ben Hong (log)

[Dejah]

My brother brought me three cans of Bailing mushrooms and a package of fresh oyster mushrooms. I've been waiting to do a side by side test for flavour and texture, but the mood and motivation is not cooperating. I did stir-fry a few of the oyster mushrooms and found the stems quite tough. The caps were fine, but not like the firmer texture of the bailing.

I also wanted to steam the pickerel, but it's been pouring rain for 3 days. I need to go outside to scale the fish!

[XiaoLing]

The ba ling mushrooms that we ate 3 times in the past 5 days, and have purchased to bring home,  looked not at all like oyster mushrooms. The largest ones are about 4" tall, 1.5" thick around the extended barrel shaped stem and topped off with a small cap. The stem is creamy white and the cap is beige.

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Isn't that King Oyster mushroom? Are they the same thing as Bai Ling mushrooms? I'm confused now.

[Ben Hong]

Cornfoozed?? So am I, because I heard them called king oyster 'shrooms. Then 3 times in the past 5 days we had them in Toronto restos and the menu says they are ba lings.

[Magictofu]

Cornfoozed?? So am I, because I heard them called king oyster 'shrooms. Then 3 times in the past 5 days we had them in Toronto restos and the menu says they are ba lings.

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They might be the same mushroom... but my guess is that people use the more widely available king oyster and call it bailing... The canned bailing I had and the fresh king oysters I had felt and tasted quite similar.

The pleurotus genus is quite wide but some mushrooms have more than one name, so it might also be the exact same mushroom with two different names.

On this web page, the author seems to suggest that the bailing mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii var. ferulae ) is a type of king oyster (pleurotus eryngii) once thought to be a different species (Pleurotus ferulae var. Lanze). It's all hiden in the title.

[Ben Hong]

From you link, I see that the variety that I posted is indeed the "King Oyster Mushroom". Chinese restaurants are not the most accurate of translators.