Fengqing Chicken Mushroom

Fengqing Chicken Mushroom

　　The Chicken Mushroom is known as the "flower among fungi" and the "king of mushrooms." When eaten, it has flavors that are fragrant, sweet, crisp, tender, and fresh. It is highly nutritious—100 grams of dried mushroom contains 28.8 grams of protein, 42.7 grams of carbohydrates, 286 kilocalories, and 23 milligrams of calcium. It also boasts a rich variety and quantity of amino acids, making it a rare delicacy. It offers health benefits such as aiding digestion, refreshing the spirit, and helping treat hemorrhoids.

　　Fengqing is one of the main habitats of the Chicken Mushroom, which is the most authentic wild variety. It grows from termite mounds, and locals often refer to these mounds—where this delicious fungus sprouts—as "Chicken Mushroom earthen pots." These earthen pots resemble round or oval-shaped clay pots underground, or even wasp nests. To date, no one has been able to cultivate this delectable Chicken Mushroom the way termites do. The mushrooms typically appear abundantly around the Torch Festival (24th–25th of June in the lunar calendar) and the Ghost Festival (14th of July in the lunar calendar), usually after thunderstorms. The Chicken Mushroom is hard to preserve and only grows during the rainy season, so it is often made into oil-soaked Chicken Mushroom for preservation and use as a condiment. To prepare it, the mushrooms are cleaned and then fried in oil along with spices such as chili and Sichuan peppercorn. Making oil-soaked Chicken Mushroom is a complex process, and the mushrooms themselves are not cheap, so most of what’s sold in markets as oil-soaked Chicken Mushroom is fake. Likewise, claims of having fresh Chicken Mushrooms year-round are also false—so beware. The most authentic version can only be tasted in season, right at the source.