Chicken-of-the-woods

Chicken-of-the-woods

　　Chicken-of-the-woods is not chicken, but rather a delicious type of umbrella-shaped mushroom. Yunnan has a mild and moist climate, and during the rainy seasons of spring and summer, all kinds of mushrooms sprout from the mountains, fields, and grasslands. Among them, there are as many as forty edible varieties, such as those named for their shapes—like “beef liver,” “tiger’s paw,” and “brush”—those named for their colors, like “copper green,” “green head,” and “purple sand bag,” and those that describe how quickly they change, like “blue hand upon touch,” and so on.

Chicken-of-the-woods is considered the king of Yunnan’s mushrooms. Its cap, which is dark brown or slightly yellow on the surface, splits in a radial pattern at the edges. Hence, ancient people said it “fans out like chicken feathers,” which is how it got its name. The flesh of the Chicken-of-the-woods is thick, fine-textured, snow-white, crisp, tender, and delicious. It is rich in protein and contains various nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, and iron. Dishes made with it—whether stir-fried, deep-fried, steamed, or made into soup—are all fragrant and tasty. Therefore, travelers to Yunnan all take great pleasure in tasting this delicacy.

Some speculate, based on the phrase in the “Zhuangzi” that “chicken mushrooms do not know the waxing and waning of the moon,” that Chicken-of-the-woods has been consumed for over two thousand years. Emperor Zhu Youjiao of the Ming Dynasty was especially fond of Chicken-of-the-woods. However, because the mushroom is delicate and spoils easily, its fragrance greatly diminishes if not consumed within a day of picking. For this reason, just as Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty had fresh lychees from the southern regions rushed to Yang Guifei by relay horses, Emperor Zhu also had Chicken-of-the-woods delivered to the capital by fast horse via the postal relay system every year. Whether due to the rarity of the mushroom or the emperor’s particular fondness for it, even the Empress Zhang, his principal wife, did not have the privilege of enjoying this delicacy.

In Fumin County, located in the northern suburbs of Kunming, locals, fearing the mushrooms will spoil, often preserve them in salt or boil them down into oil. When eating crossing-the-bridge rice noodles, adding a bit of salt-preserved Chicken-of-the-woods or oil Chicken-of-the-woods gives a uniquely delightful flavor.