▲ Where to go in the rainy season? Of course, I went to Yunnan to eat mushrooms!
-Wind Fungus Language-
"Red umbrella, white pole..."
Yunnan people: "Are you eating mushrooms?" ”
Bidding farewell to the first rain of the dry season, Yunnan officially brought Yunnan into the rainy season, and also brought the "mushroom eating season" that Yunnan people most expect. Every year from June to November, when Yunnan people are busiest in the year, the mushrooms are ready to break through the ground and fly to tables everywhere. Now is the best time to eat mushrooms.
▲ The "mushroom eating season" that Yunnan people are most looking forward to has finally arrived.
Yunnan people do not eat "mushrooms", in Yunnan colloquialism, all fungi can be collectively referred to as "bacteria", Kunming pronunciation "Jie", also called "fungus". When it comes to fungi, Yunnan people can talk endlessly... After all, there is no one in the country who can understand fungi better than yunnan people.
How much do Yunnan people love to eat mushrooms? According to reports, an avid fan of mushrooms buys at least 50,000 yuan of wild mushrooms to eat every year, from the time the mushrooms are listed to the next market. Like the current peak season, the daily turnover of wild mushrooms in a market in Yunnan can reach 500 tons.
▲ Fresh mushrooms in the Yunnan mushroom trading market. Photo/Visual China
"How many kinds of fungi are there in Yunnan?" This is the problem that locals are most afraid to hear, because there are so many. According to statistics, there are more than 2,500 species of known wild edible mushrooms in the world, and there are more than 900 species in Yunnan, accounting for about 36% of the global species.
▲ The fungi selected by Renjun. Photo/Visual China
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="26" how many "bacteria" can be eaten in Yunnan >? </h1>
Known as the "plant kingdom," Yunnan has an intricate topography that encompasses almost all of China's climate types, from Mohe in Heilongjiang Province to Hainan Island. The unique geographical environment and "unique" climate resources have bred rich edible mushroom resources.
▲ Kunming City is full of all kinds of wild edible mushrooms, with the fragrance of forest soil on the market. Photo/Visual China
According to statistics, edible mushrooms in Yunnan almost include most of the edible mushroom species in the country and even the world, accounting for two-thirds of the national edible mushrooms. There are 258 kinds of wild mushrooms on sale in the wood splash market alone, and the wild mushrooms that Kunming people love to eat mainly include one or two kinds of blue head fungus, see hand green, etc., and boletus can be subdivided into more than 30 kinds... The wet market in Yunnan is a miniature version of the "wild mushroom kingdom".
▲ How much is known about eating wild mushrooms in Yunnan. Cartography/Baolu Sun
See the hand green, or "see the villain"?
Whether in Yunnan or abroad, the wild mushrooms with the highest voice must be green in sight. Although it is slightly poisonous, with the special skill of "seeing the villain", he has successfully gone out of the circle. Legend has it that every Yunnan person has a friend who has eaten hand green poisoning, in Kunming dialect, it is counted as "eating mushrooms" (meaning poisoned by eating bacteria, which also means taking the wrong medicine in ordinary colloquial language).
▲ Above: Red see hand. Photo by Wan Rui; Below: Huang Jian hand. Photo/Visual China
See hand green is a member of the porcini mushroom family, the most common hand green in Yunnan, is the red hand and yellow hand. Red hands, also known as beautiful porcini mushrooms, the fungal area is commonly known as "red onions". Huang Mi Hand, also known as yellow leprosy head, is commonly known as "white onion" in the fungal area.
The green hand is indeed slightly poisonous, and the thin neck and pole part of the umbrella back will turn cyan after being touched, hence the name. However, once the cooking is heated, the toxicity basically disappears, if you eat the uncooked mature hand green, it is easy to cause the optic nerve to hallucinate, which is what we call "see the little man", but its delicious and slippery, or let countless people want to risk trying.
*Warm tips: Eat hand green must be cooked mature, thoroughly mature.
▲ The green hand that turns cyan after being touched.
All said ugly, growing up like this blames me?
Saying that truffles are ugly, it should be better than dry bacillus, but its complete appearance is indeed not as durable as after cutting. In our impression, truffles should appear in high-end Western restaurants, paired with exquisite tableware. But in Yunnan, in the past, it would be directly thrown into the fire to roast, or cut a large piece of stewed chicken, so it is also called a truffle fungus, in addition, it also has a grounded local name - pig arch fungus.
▲ Truffles that have just been harvested, at first glance, think they are dirt blocks. Photography / Wan Rui
Legend has it that some of the breath emitted by this fungus is close to the body odor of the sow, and I don't know what the boar has to think about, in short, it will arch a few inches to find out and eat, hence the name. Although wild truffles are precious edible mushrooms, they cannot be ranked with dried mushrooms and chicken fir mushrooms in Yunnan, and they are relatively young "rising stars".
▲ The cross-section of the black truffle fungus that has not yet completed the full maturity is obviously the beauty of the heart. Photo/Visual China
How ugly is dried bacillus? Wang Zengqi described dried bacillus in "Kunming Edible Mushrooms" as follows: "The most profound taste and the most ugly look are dried bacillus. This thing resembles a trampled honeycomb, as colored as half-dried cow dung. "Although ugly, but also the most expensive, dried bacillus is the most expensive wild mushroom on the market in Kunming."
▲ The dried bacillus at this angle is indeed a bit like a "horse honeycomb". Photo/Visual China
As the name suggests, dried bacillus is really dry, but also very fragrant! Yunnan ancestral cured meat products are called "dry ba", of which "beef dried ba" and "sheep dried ba" are more common, and the appearance and smell of dried ba fungi are similar to it, hence the name.
Appearance, weight and cleanliness are important factors affecting the price of dried bacillus, the unique shape makes dried bacillus often mixed with pine hairs, sediment, extremely difficult to sort, need to tear a little bit to remove debris. Dried bacillus takes about 20 days from excavation to maturity, which is rare in wild fungi, which also makes good dried bacillus more precious, and can be worth thousands of yuan per kilogram.
▲ Morel mushrooms.
Morels, also known as morels, are named because the uneven fungus cap resembles a very morel, and as for the appearance, people who like morels think it is not ugly. People have a relatively long history of eating morels, and since ancient times, they have been listed as one of the "Eight Treasures of Grass", and there is a local saying that "morels are eaten enough every year, and eighty can walk all over the mountains". Wild morels are small and precious, and the taste is particularly delicious, and most of the common ones on the market are artificially grown morels.
Wild mushroom army, how can I do without it?
Zōng is almost a "favorite" from all over Yunnan. Yunnan diet long-term field investigators dare to say carelessly: "Yunnan has hundreds of wild mushrooms, there are preferences in various places, comprehensive investigation, chicken fir should be the most widely and lasting favorite fungus." ”
▲ Above: Chicken fir fungus on sale in the market; Bottom picture: Turkey fir suitable for frying. Photo/Visual China
Eating chicken fir (or other non-toxic wild mushrooms) is also risky, so eat with caution!
It grows in pine forests on acidic soils and is named after the special flavor of chicken when eaten. Throughout the rainy season, chicken fir into pieces out, a wide variety of varieties, each place of origin is quite different, only from the appearance, size, color distinction, can be divided into black, green, yellow, white, red, torch chicken fir and other different types, green chicken fir, yellow chicken fir can be eaten raw, turkey fir suitable for frying refining oil. In July of the lunar calendar, there are the most thunderstorms, and the best torch chicken fir is produced at this time.
▲ Oil chicken longitudinal, bibimbap with it has a soul. Photography / Wu Xuewen
Matsutake mushroom, also known as Matsuguchi mushroom, is an extremely precious wild fungus, belongs to the national second-level protected species, for the climate, growth environment and other requirements are very harsh, so far can not be artificially farmed. In the pollution-free high-altitude original ecological area of Yunnan, there are the best quality wild matsutake mushrooms.
The mushroom flesh of matsutake is tender and white and thick, with a unique and rich aroma, but this is only the matsutake that others outside Yunnan think, not the matsutake that Yunnan people think.
▲ Matsutake mushrooms with a unique and rich aroma. Photo/Visual China
In the past, most parts of Yunnan did not like to eat matsutake mushrooms, and called it "stinky chicken fir". Later, with the popularity of matsutake mushrooms, more and more people came to visit, and the "value" of matsutake mushrooms also rose sharply, with the unique geographical advantages, Yunnan people naturally will not sit idly by, but if you want to discuss the status of matsutake mushrooms in the wild mushrooms in Yunnan... Forget it, the right to speak is still left to people outside Yunnan.
The blue-headed fungus is topped with a gray-green fungus cap, which looks very "dangerous" but is actually non-toxic. In the local market in Yunnan, the price of bluehead mushrooms is relatively cheap and the most common, and it is a "regular fungus" on the local table. And who will be the "regular fungus" on the table of foreigners?
▲ It looks poisonous, but it is actually non-toxic. Photography / Wan Rui
Bamboo sun is a kind of cryptoflora fungus that parasitizes at the root of dry bamboo, with a brown-green fungus cap, a snow-white stalk, and a reticular shape like a skirt that spreads out from the top to the bottom of the fungus cover, like a "snow skirt fairy" slowly descending on the human world. Compared with some popular wild mushrooms with "strange shapes and strange tastes", bamboo thorns have a light taste and crisp taste, which is the best choice for foreigners who try wild mushrooms for the first time.
▲ "Snow Skirt Fairy" bamboo sun.
The types of edible wild mushrooms in Yunnan are too rich, and the unspentified mushrooms welcome the message at the end of the article to add ah.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="105" > Yunnan Fancy Mushroom Eating Guide</h1>
Different mushrooms have their own different tempers, and Yunnan people touch the temper of the mushrooms and find the best way to eat them. Good fungi are only "fresh" for people who can eat, and "eating right" can unlock the unique aroma hidden by each fungus. In Yunnan, the fungus is eaten out of the "flower", and the locals can not eat for a day, but they cannot go a day without eating the fungus.
▲ Bamboo is added to the soup and is extremely delicious.
"Stab the fungus"
The most "simple" way to eat mushrooms is to eat them raw. Matsutake mushrooms, chicken fir, truffles, milk pulp bacteria can be eaten directly raw, the ingredients do not go through any seasoning contamination, to maximize the release of the original umami taste of the fungi, careful taste, each kind of fungus "fresh" are staggered.
▲ Truffle sashimi. Photo/Visual China
The most popular matsutake sashimi, sliced and spread on the ice sheet, seems to have been added with mustard and soy sauce as if to awaken the smell of fungi buried under the soil. The cold chicken fir often made by the locals is first roasted with charcoal, and then garlic paste, pepper, salt and cold mixing are added, and the bacteria shrink immediately after heating, locking the moisture of the fungi, and the tender mushrooms are very refreshing.
▲ After frying, the matsutake mushroom has a golden color and an attractive aroma. Photo/Visual China
"Plain" mushrooms are more suitable for wild mushrooms with unique and rich aromas, and high-end ingredients often only need the most "simple" way to eat mushrooms.
"Add some material" to the fungus
The most traditional and common cooking method of Yunnan wild mushrooms is stir-fry. Locals eat mushrooms, mainly stir-frying, supplemented by boiling, even if it is boiled, it should be slightly fried before cooking. The mushrooms are delicious, generally only need to add a little green pepper and garlic flakes, the accessories are oil and salt, mainly eat the original taste of mushrooms.
▲ Stir-fried asparagus chicken fir fungus. GIFs/networks
However, dried bacillus is an exception, fried dried bacillus does not enlarge the garlic only put a little green pepper shreds, fried dried bacillus aroma is particularly strong, not exaggerated to say, a fried mushroom, the whole building can smell the fragrance. The fried chicken fir needs to add some ham shreds, the rich oil of the ham can fade the earthy taste of the chicken fir, and the taste is more fresh and sweet.
▲ Stir-fried bacon with matsutake chanterelle mushrooms. Photo/Visual China
In addition to stir-frying, braising and boiling are also very common. The flesh of the blue head fungus is thick and full, very suitable for braising, or in the cap of the blue head fungus, filled with meat filling and steaming, that is, "brewing" the blue head fungus, pay attention to the removal of the stalk and the meat as the same chopping, is a soul of the brewed blue head fungus.
Cooking soup with bluehead mushrooms can be added to bacon or stewed with broth, while cooking chicken fir mushroom soup is not recommended to use bacon, otherwise it will cover up the original umami taste of chicken fir, and it is advisable to use chicken soup instead.
▲ Braised rice with bluehead mushrooms. Photography / tedahaoniuniu photo / MarketMap Network
If you want to "re-mouth", you can try the yellow stew to see the hand blue. Cut into large pieces, the texture of the green hand is clearly layered, the surface of the tender fungus in the mouth is very crisp after biting, the middle part is a little sand and noodles, and the most rounded and moist part is the fungus cap.
Such a grounded eating method is suitable for almost all edible wild mushrooms, and it should be noted that sufficient oil must be used in the cooking process, and animal oil can maximize the aroma of the bacteria.
Give the fungus "next meal"
Finally it was the turn of the "staple mushrooms" to appear. Don't care what kind of bacteria it is, just put it inside. Matsutake buns, chanterilla dumplings, fresh mushroom ravioli... Although it is a little expensive, such umami "staple mushrooms" are not something that can be eaten all year round.
▲ Dried bacillus fried rice. Photo/Visual China
The turkey fir is the most suitable for frying, and the refined chicken fir oil is used to mix the noodles and remove the chin. The most extravagant fried rice comes from dried bacillus, the price ranges from 50-80 yuan per serving, and the high-quality dried bacillus comes with the aroma of ham, and each fried rice is tightly wrapped around the mushroom aroma.
The precious morels are more suitable for cooking rice, and the mellow broth is wrapped in the fresh aroma of flower glue and abalone, and the cap is full of morels, and the entrance is full of gum and the tenderness of morels.
▲ Morel mushroom soup.
Although the price is slightly higher than that of ordinary staple foods, it only takes one serving to taste "fresh" and be full at the same time.
"Take a bath" for the fungus
Yunnan's most common "fancy" mushroom eating, non-fungal hot pot is the only one. Especially in the local people's homes, the market to buy what kind of mushrooms to cook, what pot is not so important, the most important thing is the pot to cook mushroom soup. Using chicken, duck and goose meat and Sherwin-Williams ham to cook the broth, and then boiling mushrooms, is the most authentic "wild fresh".
▲ Mushroom hot pot, "wild fresh on fresh".
There are also some eye-catching new ways of eating such as matsutake ice cream, dried bacillus pizza, and "sashimi" that attract many young foodies. However, no matter how delicious wild mushrooms are, eating is also risky, please be sure to follow the "4 ripening principle" of eating wild mushrooms:
1 Eat only familiar mushrooms, the more single the species, the better
2 Eat only cooked mushrooms
3 Select bacteria that are mature enough to be marketed
4 Try not to drink alcohol after eating mushrooms, and familiarize yourself with the way to the hospital
Tell me about which "fungus" do you pick the most?
- END -
Wen 丨 Su Chen
Picture Editing | Zhu Mengfei
Review | Yang Chunhe
*Special thanks
Yang Chunhe, executive director of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary History Committee of the Chinese Agricultural History Society
Resources
"Crop Germplasm Resources in Yunnan" Huang Xingqi
"Green Plantain Red Flowers" dares to mess around
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