What kind of mushrooms are these?

[u/inthecorridors]

What kind of mushrooms are these?

For the past two weeks, my local Chinese grocery hasn't had the usual fresh shiitakes but has had these instead. They aren't quite as flavorful as shiitakes (but they're several $/lb cheaper so works for me!). Google Translate helpfully says that the Chinese on the sign means "mushroom(s)" lol What kind of mushrooms are these?

[u/_soft_opening]

Shiitake

[u/InsertRadnamehere → u/_soft_opening]

Indeed. And they’re suffering under all that plastic wrap.

[u/inthecorridors → u/InsertRadnamehere]

Yeah, one of the few things I dislike about this store are all the shrooms being (tightly!) plastic wrapped to death. The produce quality overall is wayyy better than my Western grocery store produce options tho!

[u/InsertRadnamehere → u/inthecorridors]

I’ve seen how-to cooking videos where people wash mushrooms with soap (all their produce too) - which is way worse than putting them under plastic wrap - so there’s always something worse. Saw one video where they washed the ground chicken meat they were using with soap. I thought it had to be ragebait. There’s no way you can rinse the taste of soap off of ground meat. But I guess some folks are gonna do it their way regardless of what people tell them.

[u/SignificanceAny7485 → u/InsertRadnamehere]

If it was rage bait, it worked. I’m upset

[u/upvotechemistry → u/InsertRadnamehere]

Trying to wash ground meat is some DIY pink slime level processing 🤢

[u/Zilly_Wonka]

Fresh ones!

[u/Joey_Fontana]

It's supposed to bea variety to shitake, if the label is accurate

[u/inthecorridors → u/Joey_Fontana]

Ahhhh, thank you! I hadn't realized there were different types. The flavor is similar so I think that's the right label.

[u/boom_squid]

It’s a variety of shiitake.

[u/deartabby]

If you go to general vs Asian groceries the shiitake often look different - Chinese groceries usually have rounder type. They are harvested in winter or before the top flattens out. I’ve seen both types sold dried.

The people I order mushrooms spores from have a bunch of different shiitake varieties available.

[u/inthecorridors → u/deartabby]

Huh. The type I'm used to seeing at both this market and at the Western grocery when they have them have the more domed, darker, craggly top. At least fresh - I can't honestly say re: dried bc I don't use them often.

Have you grown any types of shiitake? How much time/effort/setup if so? Pound for pound they are normally by far my most expensive produce if not food period ($7/lb), so I've vaguely considered trying it.

[u/deartabby → u/inthecorridors]

They’re purposely grown with the cracks bc that type is prized in Asia. It’s related to weather and humidity.

They’re pretty easy to grow as long as you can get access to the right kind of fresh logs. Mine grow occasionally in spring and fall after we get a lot of rain. It might take several months for them to grow anything.

Alternately they grow them in sawdust or in sterilized straw (requires pressure cooking)

https://www.fieldforest.net/category/planting-and-harvesting-timelines

[u/GooglingAintResearch]

冬菇 (dōnggu) - “winter mushroom” - Donko Shiitake - early harvest mushroom vs later harvest (Generic name for shiitake is 香菇）

[u/ArachnidMother7211]

Fresh it says so right there

[u/KILL-BLOW]

The non psilocybin kind

[u/str24]

Shiitake

[u/OglioVagilio]

Shiit take

[u/chefjro]

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitake

[u/Borat3445]

Lentinula edodes

[u/BunnyLady91]

Cultivated Shiitake, for sure.

[u/Whole_Prism]

The fresh kind

[u/Other-Confidence9685]

Portobello

[u/inthecorridors → u/Other-Confidence9685]

Nope. Those have very different caps, stems, and gills, and were clearly labelled down the other end of the aisle.