Wood Ear Mushrooms: A Delicate Treat
Photography by Marie Viljoen.
Wood ear mushrooms are one of the delights of a cold-weather walk, whether it’s a damp day in early spring or when the temperature is kind enough to hover above freezing in deep winter.
Young wood ears on a dead tree. They are one of the oldest mushrooms in cultivation, grown for centuries in China, where they are held in esteem as a functional food.
In the dead of winter, wood ears are a welcome sight. For the average mushroom hunter, narrowing down a wood ear find to a particular species is difficult, and I don’t try.
A flush of wood ears in summer.
When I first began gathering wood ears I turned to traditional East Asian recipes for guidance, adding the mushrooms to Chinese-style hot and sour soups where they took on the flavor of the liquid.
And you wonder why they are called ears? To err on the safe side, don’t eat a big wood ear meal before surgery or if you take blood-thinning medications.
Wood ears in a potato and Brussels sprout stew. A dish I return to with anticipation in late fall is a rustic, saucy stew where the wood ears swim with cream and fresh field garlic (Allium vineale).
Succulent wood ears sop up the flavors of a good sauce.
Wood Ears with Chicken and Cream
This rustic, one-skillet stew is mouth-wateringly good. • 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Preheat oven to 400’F. In a saucepan (that has a lid) sauté the bacon pieces over medium-high heat until the fat begins to run.
Remove from the oven, and add the mushrooms, tucking them under the chicken (so that they remain moist).