Shiitake

Lentinula edodes

mushroom

An East Asian mushroom with a brown cap, grown on hardwood logs and now all over the world; fresh or dried, it flavours broths and stir-fries. It provides beta-glucans, ergothioneine, selenium and B vitamins.

Origin

Forests of East Asia

Season (United States)

all year round · grows in your region

Preparation

It is eaten cooked: raw or barely cooked, it sometimes causes, a day or two later, a streaky skin rash that clears on its own. The fibrous stem is removed, but it flavors a broth. High in purines: to rotate rather than stack, if the ground is sensitive.

Molecules

Mushroom beta-glucans · Ergothioneine · Spermidine · Selenium · Copper · Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) · Vitamin B3 (niacin) · Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) · CholineIn small amounts, not counted Zinc · Vitamin DWhat slows things down Purines

Did you know?

Its cultivation is recorded in writing as early as 1209, under the Song dynasty; its Japanese name comes from shii, the tree whose dead logs it colonises, and take, “mushroom”.