The fourth treasure of Northeast China, China rots just 3 hours after being picked and still cannot be cultivated to this day, yet it is worth a fortune
When people talk about Northeast China, what leaves a deep impression besides the cold is Northeastern cuisine. I am someone who especially loves Northeastern food. Northeastern dishes are very affordable. Although they are not as refined as Southern dishes, they always give people a sense of reassurance. What Northeast China has most of is all kinds of wild mountain delicacies. Today I will introduce a type of fungus, the hazel mushroom (Armillaria mellea). The mushroom in the famous Northeastern dish "braised pheasant with mushrooms" is the hazel mushroom.
Hazel mushrooms are generally found in July and August after the summer rainy season, and only on the mountain the day after the rain ends. Hazel mushrooms hold a very high status in Northeast China and are called the fourth treasure of Northeast China, second only to precious items such as ginseng and deer antler. The growth of hazel mushrooms requires oxygen and light, so traces of hazel mushrooms can be found in places with good ventilation and sufficient oxygen. In the past, some experienced farmers would get up in the morning and go up the mountain to pick hazel mushrooms, and in half a day they could find many hazel mushrooms.
Hazel mushrooms taste very fresh and delicious, but fresh hazel mushrooms picked in summer and brought home are not easy to store. They start to rot 3 hours after being picked, so farmers dry the hazel mushrooms in the sun to make storage easier. Freshly picked hazel mushrooms stewed with chick make an absolutely wonderful flavor, and this is also a traditional dish that Northeastern farmers use to entertain guests. Nowadays hazel mushrooms are still entirely picked from the wild, because the growth of hazel mushrooms is extremely complex and artificial cultivation has not yet been achieved, so the price of hazel mushrooms is also very high. I still hope that a technological breakthrough for hazel mushrooms can be achieved as soon as possible so they can be cultivated artificially, and in this way people will be able to eat more fresh hazel mushrooms.
The nutritional value of hazel mushrooms is very rich. They contain many vitamins and various amino acids, and especially wild hazel mushrooms grown in a natural environment have a nutritional value that cannot be matched. Moreover, regularly eating hazel mushrooms can also relieve dry skin and has certain benefits for protecting the eyes. Now it seems there really are many benefits to eating hazel mushrooms. Of the hazel mushrooms produced in Northeast China, besides supplying the domestic market, most are exported to countries such as Japan and South Korea.
Besides their high nutritional value, hazel mushrooms also have certain medicinal value. They have an improving effect on reduced vision, and can also dispel wind and promote blood circulation. Especially important is that only a fungus like the hazel mushroom can cultivate the precious medicinal material Gastrodia elata, which other fungi cannot achieve. The hazel mushroom is just such a fungus with many magical effects, but artificial cultivation has not yet been achieved, so hazel mushrooms are worth a fortune. Have you all ever eaten hazel mushrooms?