The king of mushrooms that only grows under lychee trees, you have to pick it with a flashlight, and its shelf life is no more than one day

When it comes to fungi, they are an enormous family, with a history on Earth of several hundred million years. Almost anywhere that is damp, dark and decaying, they can be found. Fungi are rich in nutrients and are eaten as a common vegetable. Although common, some fungi are extremely rare because of the characteristics of their regional environment.

For example, this "lychee mushroom", long known as the "king of Lingnan mushrooms". The lychee mushroom can truly be called a rare treasure, appearing only when the conditions are right. To catch a glimpse of the lychee mushroom, not one of air, temperature, location, climate and time can be missing.

As for timing, the lychee mushroom appears only from the fifth month of the lunar calendar each year until early summer, exactly when lychees ripen. It grows on termite nests in lychee trees, so it is jokingly called the "lychee mushroom".

However, it does not necessarily grow only on lychee trees, but coexists with termite nests, so you have to find a termite nest to find the lychee mushroom. The time is extremely short, with basically only about one month of growth period.

At this time there must be plenty of rain. When the temperature is suitable, it grows extremely quickly. Usually after a night of rain, you can see the heads of lychee mushrooms one after another on the termite nest. After being pulled out, it can grow again repeatedly. It also likes to grow at midnight, so people pick it with flashlights, otherwise by the next day its cap is fully open and it is no longer worth much.

Compared with other fungi, the lychee mushroom surely has an incomparable fresh flavor, with a taste carrying a slight sweetness. Its hyphae are delicate and smooth, and it is rich in nutrients, usually reaching 10 cm. The lychee mushroom is eaten for its freshness, and time waits for no one. Leave it one more day and the difference in price is very large. Usually only the same day's mushrooms can fetch a price. In the eyes of diners, once the one-day shelf life is exceeded, it is no longer fresh.

Also, when choosing lychee mushrooms, one point is to choose those with unopened caps that are not easy to press in. Generally, opened-cap mushrooms are about half cheaper, but they usually still cost more than 100 yuan. Local farmers like to eat them steamed or simply blanched in boiling water, without too complicated cooking steps, so as to avoid greatly reducing their own fresh flavor. At the same time, be gentle when washing them.

Because the growing conditions are extremely harsh, once the specific time of year has passed it cannot grow, so even deliberate cultivation mostly ends in failure, and there is still very little artificial cultivation locally.

In addition, when buying, pay attention: eating fake lychee mushrooms is not a small matter of losing money. It looks very similar to "Entoloma praecox" (as shown above), but the latter is highly toxic and can cause gastrointestinal and neurological poisoning. To tell them apart, look at the base: the lychee mushroom is slender and elongated, while the other is cylindrical. Keep your eyes sharp when buying.

When the lychee mushroom arrives, it is a battle between time and speed, but no matter how difficult it is, people keep pressing forward one after another. Chinese people really go all out for food.

Dear friends, have you ever eaten "lychee mushroom"? You are welcome to leave a comment and share your feelings!