Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

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Sue
Posts: 5486
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:45 am

Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

Post by Sue » Fri Oct 31, 2014 4:13 pm

Image

Wanted to mention I'd recently came across some chicken of the woods mushrooms and I chopped them up and put them in pasta. I did not forage these and don't recommend that for anyone unfamiliar with mushrooms, but I did buy them from a local organic grocer.
I'd read that they have a flavor like chicken but wanted to let you know that is not entirely true.
I have had hen of the woods mushrooms before and those are different as well.
Both of those are not technically mushrooms but a type of fungus related to wood ears that are often used in Chinese cooking and hot and sour soup.
Wood ears are dark in appearance and after soaking have a nice woodsy brown color. The texture is a bit rubbery so they get thinly sliced, and they have an earthy flavor. Very good in soups and stir-fries.
Hen of the woods are a type of off white color and are quite like mushrooms but with a deeper more earthy flavor. I use them with mushrooms interchangably.
But the chicken of the woods have a yellow appearance kind of like chanterelles. And when I first saw them I thought they were chanterelles but where those have a definite mushroom stem, the chicken of the woods have no stems since they grow right out of tree bark in a ruffly pattern.
But contrary to having a chicken flavor (which is incorrect) they actually have the texture of cooked chicken after they are chopped or sliced and cooked. So they are very good as a vegan alternative to chicken. They also have an earthy flavor and the color does remind of chicken as well. Not that vegans want anything that reminds of meat (for ethical reasons) but for those eating for health reasons who otherwise enjoy meat will like this a lot.
Excellent in the pasta I made and would be good in stir-fries, fajitas or anything that uses sliced chicken or meat.

Shadows1
Posts: 7216
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 3:41 pm

!

Post by Shadows1 » Fri Oct 31, 2014 4:20 pm

Only forage for mushrooms with an expert or the out come could be ugly!
We had an expert here 3 years ago die from mushroom posioning, even they can be wrong!

Dissie
Posts: 9065
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:15 pm

Re: !

Post by Dissie » Sat Nov 01, 2014 1:36 am

Shadows1 wrote:Only forage for mushrooms with an expert or the out come could be ugly!
We had an expert here 3 years ago die from mushroom posioning, even they can be wrong!
Yikes! I don't or havent eaten mushrooms out of the normal. EXCEPT for morels. I hunt them and love them! Love them!

Kchurchill5
Posts: 16044
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:55 am

Re: Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

Post by Kchurchill5 » Sat Nov 01, 2014 8:15 am

Same here; but, those looks really pretty. Morels too are the only wild ones I hunted for. And, they are decadent!

Sue
Posts: 5486
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:45 am

Re: Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

Post by Sue » Sat Nov 01, 2014 9:57 am

I don't hunt mushrooms at all. There isn't really any place around here to do it and besides. I am not into psychedelic soup...or worse.
I leave it to the experts and buy from them. :)
Besides, with my joint issues, getting out to hike is harder than it used to be. Descending a ravine (such as the many wooded areas around here have) and climbing back out takes its toll. :/

MomJenny2
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2012 12:37 pm

Re: Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

Post by MomJenny2 » Sat Nov 01, 2014 1:10 pm

YIKES! :o I'm afraid of eating any mushrooms picked outdoors, I know of an Italian family that goes mushroom picking all the time, I'm sure they know their mushrooms well, you would have to

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