Lion's Mane Mushroom (Hou Tou Gu)
猿の頭！？鶏肉のようにホロホロ崩れる「幻の四大名菜」
Description
A premium mushroom covered in fluffy white spines, named 'Monkey's Head' (Hou Tou) because its round shape resembles one. One of 'China's Four Great Delicacies', alongside bird's nest, shark fin, and bear paw. Known in medicine as a silver bullet to 'protect the stomach and aid digestion'. Adding it to soup yields a mysterious texture exactly like 'tender chicken'.
Classification: Premium Ingredient, Ingredient, Dry Goods, Mushroom, Hou Tou Gu, Lion's Mane, Medicinal, Stomach Care, For Soup
Shops selling Lion's Mane Mushroom (Hou Tou Gu)
Researching
We are researching shops that sell this item.
On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The How to use section below is a general reference, not instructions from the listed shops.
How to use
Ingredients
- Dried Hericium erinaceus(Lion's Mane Mushroom)
Instructions
- [Typical Uses]
- [Hou Tou Gu Dun Ji Tang (Lion's Mane & Whole Chicken Soup)]: Simmer rehydrated, debittered mushrooms for hours in a claypot with a whole chicken, jujubes, goji, and ginger. The ultimate medicinal soup when the stomach is tired.
- Used as a 'meat substitute' in vegetarian (Buddhist) cuisine, fried or grilled like steak.
Learn more Substitutes, pairings, tips
Key spices
Woody mushroom aroma、and a texture like 'falling-apart chicken' that absorbed soup to the limit
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Texture and medicinal effects irreplaceable. Substitute umami only with regular shiitake)
Pairing
Whole Chicken Soup / Pork Sparerib Soup / Medicinal Dishes
Trivia
Rarely eaten in JP, but so common as medicine in China they say 'eat Hou Tou Gu if your stomach is weak'. Because the fibers resemble meat, it greatly excels as fake meat in Buddhist cuisine.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Crucial Prep]: Extremely bitter if boiled as is. After rehydrating in warm water, you MUST repeatedly let it absorb water like a sponge and squeeze it tightly (4-5 times) until the water is no longer yellow. This is the absolute condition for deliciousness.
Allergen
None