Chinese truffles

[SteveW]

Only in recent years, I've heard about Chinese truffles. Are they worth getting for the price(much much cheaper than Italian or French truffles)? What should I use it for?

-Steve

[melkor]

I'm not fond of them; they are inexpensive for a reason.

[Gary Soup]

Here's the uncommonly informative and refreshingly forthcoming web site of one of the major producers:

Chinese Truffles

They tell you right up front:

Chinese black truffle are not the same one as the black truffle from Perigord and our white truffle is not Tuber magnatum. Like it is said, Every mushroom is an unique and different taste experience.

[v. gautam]

What is your opinion of Chinese boletus, especially B. edulis?

[halland]

I've had mixed results. The best advice I can offer is to try to smell them before you buy them. If it is very fragrant, and you like the smell, then buy it and make risotto or whatever strikes your fancy. Generally they are only $5 each, so the price is not much, but only the really fragrant ones contribute anything to the dish.

hal

[Yuki]

牛肝菌 = Boletus Edulis

I saw them in stir fry and hot pot before.

[russ parsons]

i did a piece on them last year. if you get a good one, i think it's a decent value. there will be people who will insist that they are not as good as the french-grown t. magnatum. they are right, of course. and if you're one of those people who insist that only the very best will do and damn the price, then you should certainly avoid them. for the rest of us, i find they give a decent flavor for a relatively little amount of money.

[chengb02]

??? = Boletus Edulis

I saw them in stir fry and hot pot before.

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This is interesting, I always thought that to be such a weird name for a mushroom and never knew what the english name was...hehe, now I know!

[Gary Soup]

This is interesting, I always thought that to be such a weird name for a mushroom and never knew what the english name was...hehe, now I know!

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At least you know the Latin name.

It's better known as Porcini, but that's probably Italian. Does it have an "English" name?

[Gary Soup]

牛肝菌 = Boletus Edulis

Do they taste like beef liver, or is it because they look lke a cow's liver?

[endless autumn]

The english name is cep or penny bun.

They don't taste of buns any more than they taste of liver.

[v. gautam]

Thanks for your responses. I am afraid i did not make myself clear; just as chinese tuffles are deemed to be inferior to the black and white truffle of france/italy, are the chinese cepes inferior [or deemed inferior] to european boletus? i hear the south american boletus are supposed to be inferior to the european, partly because they are dried over smoky fires.

What i find is that china has become a major supplier of cepes/porcini/boletus to the american restaurant trade, and advertise various categories, such as picked on such and such a month, as a yardstick of flavor. The chinese product is much cheaper than the european. Would someone be familiar with the comparative qualities of the different sources, i.e. european versus chinese?

i am told that for morels, the terroir is not as significant, and morels from the Himalayas are as superlative as thosefrom anywhere else. Is there any reason for boletus from china to be less tasty than the european?

[SteveW]

Thanks Russ, just gone back & read your truffles article.

-Steve

i did a piece on them last year. if you get a good one, i think it's a decent value. there will be people who will insist that they are not as good as the french-grown t. magnatum. they are right, of course. and if you're one of those people who insist that only the very best will do and damn the price, then you should certainly avoid them. for the rest of us, i find they give a decent flavor for a relatively little amount of money.

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[Yuki]

Do they taste like beef liver, or is it because they look lke a cow's liver?

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They are called 牛肝菌 because some mushrooms in the B. Edulis family look like cow's liver.