|  Asian
mushrooms - Many mushrooms that are originally from the
Far East are not only available dried and canned but can also
be found fresh in produce markets the world over. Perhaps the
best known of these - and certainly the most available - is the
Japanese brown mushroom or shiitake (Cortinellus shiitake). Once
grown only in Japan by introducing spores to a local type of oak
tree, this mushroom is now cultivated in the United States - on
artificial logs. The shiitake is umbrella-like in shape, brown
to black in color, and firmly textured; it has an assertive flavor
that goes well in sautes. Its cousin, the Chinese black mushroom
(Lentinus edodes), is actually brown to pale buff in color. Known
as the "winter mushroom" in China (as is the shiitake,
which is also grown there), it is like most other mushrooms in
that its flavor intensifies with drying. The enokitake (Flammulina
velutipes), or somtimes just enoki (their home is on the stumps
of the Chinese hackberry tree called enoki), are slender mushroom
stalks with small bulbs at the top, which grow in clumps and reach
upwards of 5 inches in length. Their delicate flavor is called
for in many Asian dishes, but they are best appreciated when eaten
raw in salads. Enokitake mushrooms are now cultivated in California.
Another cultivated mushroom is the straw mushroom (Volvariella
volvacea) that is small, globe-shaped, and grown on straw, from
which it develops its distinctive earthy taste. These are only
occasionally found fresh, and never dried, but are universally
available in cans.
Rarely found outside of Japan is the matsutake (Armillaria edodes),
a thick, meaty, and delicious mushroom that is very popular there
and also very expensive. A final Asian fungus is the cloud-ear
fungus (Auricularia auricula and A. polytrica), better known in
the United States as "wood ear" but also a "tree
ear," "Jew's-ear," and "black tree fungus."
The cloud-ear fungus is highly regarded for supposed medicinal
properties (it does seem to thin the blood) by the Chinese, who
have also incorporated it into their cuisine for at least 1,500
years. It is found mostly in Asian markets in the United States.
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