matsutake 松菇 galore

Years ago when I first encounter matsutakes 松菇 I had little idea what they are. Their strange appearance and the high price intrigued me and I brought a pack home to try. Later on I would realize matsutake 松菇 is one of the Pacific Northwest forest bounties. Matsutake 松菇 means pine mushroom in Chinese and Japanese. I would eventually found my prefer ways to prepare them.

I bought close to 5 lbs of matsutake 松菇 this year. Normally they only appear in very few Asian store shelves for a few days a year. I only know of two stores in town that would have them in autumn when these mushrooms are harvested. Matsutake is prized by Koreans and Japanese, and some areas in China. Oregon exports these highly prized mushroom to Japan, and from what I found out the top grade sold for as much as $100 USD a pound in Tokyo.

matsutake is always covered with forest dirt and the root is with gritty sand particles

When I first bought matsutake, I had no idea as how to clean them. With mushrooms the common wisdom is never to wash them with water. The reason is mushroom is like a sponge and will absorb the water that you used to wash them. As I experimented I would found out this is far from true. Hay, remember these gems growth in the Pacific Northwest rain forest. I found what what well for me is to use a toothbrush to brush off as much dirt from them. I do this by rubbing the mushroom in water to loosen the dirt. It pays not to brush them too aggressively and follow the natural grain.

Once most the the dirt is off I then tackle the sand at the base. It is not possible to remove the sand particles at the base without also scrapping off a bit of the precious mushroom. I found using my finger nails work best over say a paring knife.

the bowl of water that I use to clean off the dirt - never dump this very sandy water down your kitchen drain

one dirty butt

Once each mushroom has been clean it is important to bolt the excess water on the surface gently with paper towel, then leave them out a few minutes for more water to evaporate. Moisture control is key.

a bunch of matsutake that has been cleaned

I experimented many ways to prepare these exquisite mushrooms.


simply fry them in a pan with olive oil and a bit of butter

 I like to season them with freshly ground black peppers and coarse sea salt

I sprinkled some chopped chives from my garden

this is one mother of matsutake

the most difficult part of preparing matsutake is to clean them

this batch is served with a piece of stake

I used some for the topping of a pizza

pizza with homemade smoked salmon and matsutake

I would find out matsutake and Parmesan cheese clash.

here I use them as an ingredient in a Korean hot plate grill

matsutake with sea scallops and Japanese scallops

I even had mushrooms growing on my yard - of course these are not eatable

i have no doubt these are poisonous

I just stared watching some of Amazon Prime free video. I came across this excellent documentary on food in China called "A Bite of China". It is one of the best documentary on the diversity of Chinese food. In the first episode "Gifts from Nature" it started off about people lived near pine forests in Yunnan harvest matsutake mushroom.

the most interesting is how the natives cook these mushrooms - pan fry them with yak butter

The most interesting thing is the locals used to not appreciate these mushrooms until recent time. They used to sold for mere a few tens of Yuan (Renminbi). Now, like the Pacific Northwest, they are exporting to Japan too and fetch the highest income for the villagers.