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mushrooms

margaret

By margaret
in Japan: Cooking & Baking

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Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted
I live in LA now :sad:

Im really homesick for Hawaii, but there are a few perks here.....like the Japanese grocery stores are awesome!!!!! :biggrin:  :biggrin:

The other day I saw some dried shimeji and eryngi mushrooms, the eryngi were sliced (long way).

Has anyone tried out the dried versions of these mushrooms?  Could I use them in place of dried shiitake?  Any ideas?

I'd like you to give them a try and report back! :biggrin::biggrin:

My blog
Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted
Next, amandare, a-ma-n-da-re.  It's a local name.  Commonly known as naratake.  I don't know for sure, but amandare may be called bootlace fungi or honey fungi in English.

Sorry, now I know naratake are called honey mushrooms in English.

On October 8, my son and I went to Mt. Makihata (one of the Hyaku Mei Zan (One Hundred Famous Mountains) in Japan) for mushroom gathering and found naratake.

gallery_16375_5_4329.jpg

As usual, I made kinoko jiru (mushroom soup), using some of the honey mushrooms, daikon, carrot, satoimo, and gobo.

gallery_16375_5_58365.jpg

I put the rest of the mushrooms in I-Wrap bags to freeze them.

gallery_16375_5_31223.jpg

The next day, we went to a small festival in Yuzawa, where a kinoko kantei kai (mushroom identification session?) was held. We've been to this kantei kai for three years in a row, and we have learned a great deal about mushrooms.

gallery_16375_5_100071.jpg

ONE QUESTION: DO YOU EVER EAT HONEY MUSHROOMS??

My blog
torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted

I don't believe I have ever seen naratake in the stores....

Do they have them in stores in your area?

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted
I don't believe I have ever seen naratake in the stores....

Do they have them in stores in your area?

Yes! Click this and look at the first photo.

You can see a bag of amandare あまんだれ.

My blog
torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted
I don't believe I have ever seen naratake in the stores....

Do they have them in stores in your area?

Yes! Click this and look at the first photo.

You can see a bag of amandare あまんだれ.

I notice in that picture they are 水煮 (packed in water), are they usually sold that way?

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted
I don't believe I have ever seen naratake in the stores....

Do they have them in stores in your area?

Yes! Click this and look at the first photo.

You can see a bag of amandare あまんだれ.

I notice in that picture they are 水煮 (packed in water), are they usually sold that way?

Yes, and they are mostly imports from China. Fresh ones are sold only when they are in season.

My blog
  • 2 weeks later...
Kiem Hwa

Kiem Hwa

Posted
Posted

Is this a giant Eryngi?

gallery_24165_402_30049.jpg

I bought this "King Oyster" mushroom yesterday.... Its about the size of my hand!!

Im contemplating how best to prepare this giant thing! Any ideas?

torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted
Is this a giant Eryngi?

gallery_24165_402_30049.jpg

I bought this "King Oyster" mushroom yesterday.... Its about the size of my hand!!

Im contemplating how best to prepare this giant thing!  Any ideas?

Kinpira!

i12073.jpg

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Kiem Hwa

Kiem Hwa

Posted
Posted

OOHH!!!

That looks delicious! Do you just make it with the same recipe I would use to make regular kinpira?

So far I have used half of one to make a takikomi gohan - I realized I havent done much grocery shopping yet, so the only ingredients i could add were the eryngi and some iriko (little dried fishes), but it was pretty good :biggrin:

torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted

I don't remember exactly what I use but it was probably sesame oil, a chile pepper, soy sauce and mirin.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

  • 3 months later...
Akiko

Akiko

Posted
Posted
Sorry, now I know naratake are called honey mushrooms in English.

Hiroyuki-san, we get these in London and I always assumed that they were part of the nameko family because of the sticky quality of the caps (especially once they are cooked). the ones you find here are not shaped with the flat cap like the ones in the pictures from your link, but much more like the classic rounded cap as a shimeji or almost like the nameko's.

funny that they are not related...

Amedama on the Go Go!
AzianBrewer

AzianBrewer

Posted
Posted
gallery_16375_5_15179.jpg

Have any of you ever tried hanabira take?  I bought a pack for the first time today.  I think I'll make takikomi gohan with it.  Will report on it in that thread.

I found this interesting streaming video showing how wild hanabira take is collected:

http://homepage.mac.com/shimoji69/iMovieTheater11.html

Hiro-The Chinese called this white fungis or "Bai-Mu-Er". It is used for stir fry, soup and sweet soup.

Leave the gun, take the canoli

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted

Akiko:

Do post a picture or two of the variety available in your area, as well as a typical local dish using it, when you have time.

AzianBrewer:

Thanks for the information, but I confirmed that Bai-Mu-Er is shiro kikurage in Japanese (white wood ear in English?). Hanabira take is called cauliflower fungus in English. From here: http://bcmushrooms.forrex.org/ntfp/pages/s...ispa_image.html

Hanabira take is considered healthy because it contains three times more beta-glucan than agaricus. But I'm really disappointed by the lack of flavor of this mushroom. I don't think I'll buy it again.

My blog
torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the information, but I confirmed that Bai-Mu-Er is shiro kikurage in Japanese (white wood ear in English?).  Hanabira take is called cauliflower fungus in English.  From here:  http://bcmushrooms.forrex.org/ntfp/pages/s...ispa_image.html

Hanabira take is considered healthy because it contains three times more beta-glucan than agaricus.  But I'm really disappointed by the lack of flavor of this mushroom.  I don't think I'll buy it again.

I like the name caulifower fungus better than the second name they gave at that site, "brain fungus".

I does look like a fresh version of shiro kikurage, does it have that same kind of bit that kikurage does or is it softer like a regular mushroom?

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the information, but I confirmed that Bai-Mu-Er is shiro kikurage in Japanese (white wood ear in English?).  Hanabira take is called cauliflower fungus in English.  From here:  http://bcmushrooms.forrex.org/ntfp/pages/s...ispa_image.html

Hanabira take is considered healthy because it contains three times more beta-glucan than agaricus.  But I'm really disappointed by the lack of flavor of this mushroom.  I don't think I'll buy it again.

I like the name caulifower fungus better than the second name they gave at that site, "brain fungus".

I does look like a fresh version of shiro kikurage, does it have that same kind of bit that kikurage does or is it softer like a regular mushroom?

I may be wrong because this is the very first time that I've ever had hanabira take, and I made sure that I could keep its texture by using a technique I described in the takikomi gohan thread, but I think its texture is quite like that of shiro kikurage. Note also that I have had only dried shiro kikurage so far, which I usually buy at the 100-yen shop :blush: . (This mushroom happens to be a favorite of my son's, and I keep buying it there.)

Anyway, it's not expensive (I bought a pack for 198 yen), so I think you can always try it.

My blog
  • 1 month later...
Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted

I wonder if a link to this site has been provided by someone else.

Detailed description of how to pick mushrooms in Japan.

As the site suggests, what counts most is to find an expert. This year, my son and I are thinking of joining a local kinoko study group to learn more about mushrooms.

My blog
  • 1 month later...
Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted

My family went to a festival in Yuzawa yesterday, and found a booth where they advertised a new, soon-to-be-released variety of enoki take.

gallery_16375_5_45281.jpg

My son and I tasted a sample (boiled and put in a small paper cup with some dashi soup in it), filled out a questionnaire, and each got a free sample.

gallery_16375_5_4808.jpg

It had bigger heads and thicker stalks, and it was quite tasty.

After we returned home, I made miso soup with this mushroom and tofu for supper. The enoki had more presence in the miso soup than the regular one.

Can't wait to see it sold at supermarkets!

My blog
  • 2 weeks later...
tissue

tissue

Posted
Posted
Is this a giant Eryngi?

gallery_24165_402_30049.jpg

I bought this "King Oyster" mushroom yesterday.... Its about the size of my hand!!

Im contemplating how best to prepare this giant thing!  Any ideas?

I slice these cross wise, sprinkle with some salt, pepper, and dot it with butter and bake them in the oven. After i take them out, I sprinkle with a little bit of chopped parsley.

torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted

tissue, that sounds really good (and so simple!) I picked up two packs of eryngii yesterday, I think I will try it tonight!

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

mizducky

mizducky

Posted
Posted
My family went to a festival in Yuzawa yesterday, and found a booth where they advertised a new, soon-to-be-released variety of enoki take.

gallery_16375_5_4808.jpg

Can't wait to see it sold at supermarkets!

Unless I am massively mistaken, I just saw those super-big enoki mushrooms in a local Asian supermarket here in the States. Mind you, I do not read Japanese at all, but the packaging and look of the mushrooms were very similar to this photo. I will make a point of looking for them the next time I'm in that market, and getting a photo of them in their packaging for comparison.

I bought this "King Oyster" mushroom yesterday.... Its about the size of my hand!!

Im contemplating how best to prepare this giant thing!  Any ideas?

I slice these cross wise, sprinkle with some salt, pepper, and dot it with butter and bake them in the oven. After i take them out, I sprinkle with a little bit of chopped parsley.

I've also had pretty good luck with slicing eryngii lengthwise, sprinkling them with soy sauce, and grilling them on an electric grill (not sure if the George Foreman Grill has made it out of the US and around the world yet--or if a Japanese manufacturer has gone and made a better one :smile: --but for what it's worth that's the kind of grill I used). Eryngii do seem to need longer cooking than your average mushroom to be tender, so that always has to be factored in.

Ellen Terris Brenner

Examiner.com: San Diego Budget Meals Examiner

eG Foodblogs: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted
Unless I am massively mistaken, I just saw those super-big enoki mushrooms in a local Asian supermarket here in the States. Mind you, I do not read Japanese at all, but the packaging and look of the mushrooms were very similar to this photo. I will make a point of looking for them the next time I'm in that market, and getting a photo of them in their packaging for comparison.

This variety, called Yuki Boushi (lit. Snow Head), is a new one developed at a laboratory in Niigata, so I think the enoki take that you saw was of a different variety.

You can see another photo of Yuki Boushi here.

My blog
helenjp

helenjp

Posted
Posted

Definitely "larger"-capped enoki have been developed elsewhere too - I'm sure I saw some enoki last year in the supermarket advertised as "bigger"!

Enoki don't seem to be as cheap as they used to be - used to be able to get "twin-pack" specials quite often.

Eryngi, meanwhile, have definitely come down in price - they're a lunchbox staple at my house, since they keep fairly well.

Helenjp

* Pickles foodblog

* New Year foodblog

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted

I learned yesterday from a local TV news program that Niigata Beer (Japanese only) announced on April 28 that it had succeeded in kinsho saibai (mushroom bed cultivation) of black truffles with their new technology.

According to this (Japanese only), as a result of two years of trial and error, the company discovered on April 20 black truffles grown to sizes of 5 to 30 millimeters in 20 of about 10,000 bags in which mushroom beds were created in February.

But 20 out of 10,000? Do you call this a success?

My blog
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