Hen of the Woods Mushrooms

Every year beginning in late summer and into early Fall we seek out wild Hen of the Woods mushrooms. They grow in the woods near our property. Year after year we harvest them to make delicious soups and stir fries.  To save our mushrooms from other mycophiles, my husband asked not to disclose their locations. He does not like the competition.

They make a nice addition to the vegetables from our garden. We like them so much that we have an interest in starting our own colony in artificial logs.

The Hen of the Woods mushrooms (Grifola frondosa) belong to polypore type of mushrooms. They are inhabitants of Northeastern America and Japan (maitake). 

Hen of the Woods are found in the wild on hardwood trees (usually oak) where they compose a dense cluster sometimes 2 feet across. There pore surface is on the underside, the top is smooth and white grey/brown in color. These cluster mushrooms are only good to eat when they are young and firm. Because the mushrooms grow at the same spot for many years, it is advisable to cut only the fans portion of them and leave the” stem” for next year production. This mushroom is cultivated in Japan, Korea and China for cooking and medicinal purposes.  We did not plant our mushrooms, but consider it our renewable resources. Tea from these mushrooms is believed to help with upset stomach and has a calming effect.

We use our mushrooms just for cooking. If you do not have an allergy to these mushrooms, you  can simply fry them with the spices of your choice and some garlic.

If you think that you may be sensitive to these mushrooms, then better to boil them for 10 minutes first. Discard the water and then fry them or use them in soups. First time eaters should try just a small portion of these mushrooms to test their sensitivity to them.

How to prepare Hen of the woods for cooking

Take individual fans and separate them into long narrow pieces as if you peel strings from string cheese. For soup and for sensitive stomachs, boil the pieces for 10 min and drain. The mushrooms can be preserved for winter by drying them. We usually boil them with a little salt, drain them and freeze them in small freezer bags. Dry mushrooms taste different than fresh or frozen, but still are good in a soup.

We use frozen mushrooms without first defrosting them. They are good to go right into boiling water or frying pan.

Here is the recipe of  a very nice soup where I combine vegetables from my garden and Hen of the Woods.

Chicken vegetable soup with mushrooms

In this soup I use a number of root vegetables from my garden. This soup is easy to make and it does not have many steps.

Ingredients.

1/2  Chicken breast

10 oz. of prepared Hen of the Woods mushrooms (boiled for 10 min and drained)

7 oz. (200g) carrots cut into 2 inch pieces or baby carrots

1 big or 2 medium beets peeled and cut  into small pieces

4 oz. string beans

3 big potatoes peeled and cut into small pieces

1/8 tsp salt

1/2  cayenne pepper or 1 tsp crushed hot red pepper

2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves

Directions

1. Put the chicken, carrots, beets, mushrooms, pepper, bay leaves and salt, in a 3 quarts (approximately 3L) soup pan and add water just enough to cover the ingredients.

2. Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for approximately 40 min or until the chicken is tender but not falling apart

3. Take the chicken out of the soup

4. Cut the chicken into medium size pieces and put them back into the soup pan

5. Put potatoes and string beans in the soup and add water if needed and bring it to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are done (no more than 20 min).

6. Crush garlic into hot soup and stir

If soup is thick, you can put less potatoes.

This soup can be served with Parmesan cheese or sour cream.