Confessing a Mushroom Love - room for mushy love

Mushrooms, mushrooms....mushh....Vrrrrrooooooooom!

From left: oyster, velvet pioppino, cloud ear or wood ear(black fungus), coral

I was pleased - first, it came in an assortment; second, it looks "special". In face of new, unfamiliar stuff, I tend to be very fickle. That is why I go for sample brews when visiting a brew house and precisely for the same reason - this pack of pre-selected mushrooms variety. Now I do not have to decide - which variety, which pack, which one...I can try all at the same time!

Mushrooms are often meat substitutes for vegetarians partially due to its inherent woody and earthy flavor, being a good source of protein.

Golden Oyster - 珊瑚菇 (pronounced ShanHu Gu, literally means coral mushrooms)

Also known as Golden Oyster Spore Syringe (botanical name: Pleurotus citrinopileatus) or jade emperor mushrooms. These mushrooms grow in clusters of small, thin fleshed, funnel-shaped bright yellow caps. The flavor improves with thorough cooking

Velvet Pioppino or cinnamon cap mushroom - a Matsutake variety. Other names: brown swordbelt. Chinese names: 松茸 or 松菇

These mushrooms have intense rich flavor and maintain slight crisp texture in the stems and caps after cooking.

Tree oyster mushroom (botanical name: Pleurotus ostreatus) or sometimes known as abalone mushrooms.

These oyster mushrooms have a fleshy texture with mild delicate earthy flavor.

There is more mushroom reading at Dried Mushrooms, Food Subs and Wiki. In addition, a few WHB weeks ago, I posted on mushrooms - shitake, trumpet, beech and had a few good mushroom recipes for you. Do check them out.

Now, do you have any more room to confess your mushy love for mushrooms ? Which variety do you like best ?

Tag: mushrooms