Round Mushroom

Round Mushroom

　　Also known as: Frozen Mushroom, Winter Mushroom.

Source: The fruiting body of the fungus Pleurotus from the family Pleurotaceae.

Plant morphology: Fruiting bodies grow in clusters or stacked layers, fleshy. The cap is 5–21 cm wide, flatly hemispherical, later flattening out into fan-shaped, kidney-shaped, or semicircular forms. Round mushrooms are fan-shaped, 7–15 cm in diameter, with highly variable coloration; when young, the cap surface is dark brown, later becoming dark gray or light gray-brown in the wild, and yellowish-brown upon maturity. The flesh is thick, white; the stem is very short and off-center, with white downy fuzz at the base. The flesh is white and has an exceptionally delicious taste. When dried, it becomes a large yellow chunk, which regains its fresh shape when soaked in warm water.

The round mushroom is a unique fungus native to the Northeast. It is considered a premium mushroom, second only to the monkey head mushroom among fungi, with nutritional content more than ten times that of ordinary vegetables. It is commonly believed that round mushrooms cannot be successfully cultivated, but this is not entirely true. In fact, cultivation of round mushrooms in the Northeast has begun to take shape and yields are high.

Compared to wild round mushrooms, cultivated ones are naturally inferior in nutritional value. Wild round mushrooms often show slight signs of insect damage, but those picked from the wild after the Mid-Autumn Festival tend to have relatively less insect damage and are highly nutritious. Round mushrooms are rich in protein, fat, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus, and other nutrients. They are delicious and offer high edible value. Their flavor resembles that of seafood. Round mushrooms can be used in a variety of dishes, suitable for both meat and vegetable pairings, and can be stir-fried, stewed, braised, or roasted—truly a “vegetarian dish with the taste of meat” and a prized mountain delicacy.

Round mushrooms are used medicinally to relax tendons, activate collaterals, strengthen muscles and bones, and are primarily used to treat symptoms such as lumbar and leg pain, numbness in the hands and feet, and poor circulation in the tendons.