How much does wild matsutake mushroom cost per jin? Is it a "stimulating food"? How do you clean it? How do you eat it?
Matsutake generally refers to the pine mushroom, also known as songkourmo, songxun, hejun, taijun, or boxing mushroom. It is a rare and precious natural medicinal mushroom in the world and a Class II endangered protected species in China.So how much does wild matsutake cost per jin? Is it a "stimulating food"? How do you clean it? How do you eat it? From the mushroom market in Yunnan, we learn that matsutake is very precious and has a very short shelf life; only by air transport can it reach every family's dining table. China's matsutake is mainly exported, for example, the price in Japan is around 1200 per kilogram, while the price in South Korea is around 4000.
Is matsutake a "stimulating food"?
1. Matsutake belongs to edible fungi and is not really a "stimulating food" itself. Matsutake is itself a fungal food, but people with skin diseases and allergic dermatitis should avoid eating it.
2. Eating too much of this kind of food may cause wind to stir and yang to rise, triggering chronic illnesses such as liver-yang headache and liver-wind dizziness. In addition, it can easily induce or worsen skin sores, ulcers, and swellings.
How do you clean wild matsutake?
1. Fresh matsutake should look light coffee-colored (brown), smell of a faint pine-needle aroma and fresh earth, feel rather firm, have no sticky feeling on the surface, and show white when cut; that means it is edible.
2. You can prepare a small knife to shave off the attached soil, mainly the soil at the root. Since it grows in mountain forests, the purpose of this treatment is to remove large amounts of soil or debris.
3. Then use a bristle brush to brush off some fine soil or stuck leaves, in short, the inedible debris. Never soak it directly in water. The correct way is to place it under running water and gently wipe it with a sponge or cotton cloth while rinsing, so that the matsutake does not absorb too much water and affect its taste.
4. If you still feel it is not clean, it is recommended to brush it a few more times with a toothbrush or bristle brush.
How do you eat wild matsutake?
1. Clear matsutake soup: Stew matsutake with pure water for 15 minutes, add a little refined salt, and it is ready to eat. It is fragrant and refreshing. Each person only needs 20g of fresh matsutake each time. (You can also stew it with stock, or stew it with cordyceps, bamboo fungus, morel mushrooms, etc., but do not add MSG or other seasonings.)
2. Matsutake stewed with free-range chicken: Stew about 100g of washed fresh matsutake together with a washed free-range chicken, adding only refined salt and no MSG until cooked. (You can also stew it with pork ribs, pigeon, etc.)
3. Butter matsutake: After slicing the washed fresh matsutake, put it into heated butter and pan-fry it. Once the matsutake gives off its full aroma, add refined salt and it is ready to eat. (If conditions permit, you can also use an oven and bake matsutake wrapped in tin foil and coated with butter.)
4. Tempura: Put cut matsutake strips, 1/4 strip each, into a batter made of egg, flour, and salt, stir, and deep-fry in warm oil until golden brown.
5. Matsutake fried rice: Stir-fry matsutake, diced chicken (diced meat), green peas, carrot, and salt together until fragrant, then set aside. Then stir-fry the rice. After that, cook and stir-fry them together.
6. Matsutake liquor: Slice fresh matsutake and soak it in an appropriate amount of baijiu for several days before drinking. It can be drunk every day to strengthen the body.
Appendix: The effects and functions of matsutake
1. Matsutake has extremely high nutritional and medicinal value. Modern medicine shows that matsutake has various effects such as improving immunity, fighting cancer and tumors, treating diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, anti-aging and beautifying, promoting gastrointestinal health and protecting the liver, so it is also widely used worldwide in the research and development of medicines, health products, and cosmetics.
2. Matsutake contains various nutrients needed by the human body and has the effect of comprehensively improving immunity. In particular, the double-stranded matsutake polysaccharides rich in matsutake can activate human T cells and have a definite enhancing effect on nonspecific immunity and specific immunity, and have a certain effect on rapidly improving immunity in people with weak constitutions and in people after surgery or childbirth.
3. Matsutake polysaccharides can enhance the body's antioxidant capacity, clear excess free radicals produced in the body, reduce the degree of peroxidation of tissue cells, improve human immune function, and have an anti-aging effect.
4. Matsutake also has a beautifying and whitening effect. Melanin is the main factor determining skin color, and tyrosinase is the key enzyme in melanin synthesis. The crude matsutake polysaccharides in matsutake have a very good inhibitory effect on tyrosinase.