Oyster Mushrooms

Oyster Mushrooms come in a number of varieties in different sizes and colors, generally of mild flavor. The off-center stem is characteristic and many are fan shaped, highly irregular and overlapping. some varieties are highly perishable, lasting only a few hours, but some are quite durable. Here on the West Coast of the United States, there is a tremendous interest in cultivating mushrooms, combining techniques from Asia with those developed by growers of "magic mushrooms", and a number of new varieties of Oyster Mushroom are now available here.

Sorting mushroom varieties is difficult, because members of the same species can take a number of different forms. Some Oyster Mushrooms, including the King Trumpets, and Common Oyster Mushrooms, kill and consume nematodes (round worms) for additional nutrition.   Photo of P. pulmonarius by Jörg Hempel distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 Germany attribution required.

More on Mushrooms.

Abalone Mushroom

This is a small oyster mushroom raised in Taiwan, Thailand and China for canning and export. The texture is fairly firm, as befits a canning mushroom, and as with all oyster mushrooms, the flavor is mild. Personally I think they should rename this mushroom because if anything deserves to be called "Abalone Mushroom" it's the Bailinggu.

Bailinggu

If any mushroom deserves the name "abalone mushroom" this is the one. Growing to about the size of a very large abalone (the kind you can't get any more), sliced it looks like abalone steaks and when cooked it even tastes a bit like abalone. It's very meaty and almost chewy, this is a really fine mushroom. It is also very durable, able to last more than a week loosely bagged in the fridge.

This mushroom is native to the northwest of the Xinjiang Uygur (not so) Autonomous Region of China, but is also found in Iran and probably other modeately arid regions where the Giant Fennel (genus Ferula) is native. In the wild, it is always found in association with these plants. This mushroom is now commercially cultivated in China, and was easily found in Asian markets here in Los Angeles in 2012 and 2013, but I haven't seen the lately (2018, 2019). The photo specimen on the left was 4-1/2 inches across and weighed 5-1/2 ounces, about average. The photo specimens, purchased in a large Asian market in Alhambra, sold for 2012 US $3.99 / pound, but up to double that in some other markets.

Common Oyster Mushroom

This mushroom grows as a series of tightly packed shelves on the side of tree trunks. It's very fragile, cooks tender but not mushy, and easily absorbs flavors, having a very mild flavor itself. In years past you could only get them canned, but fresh ones have become quite common, at least in Southern California. They are always used cooked, having a touch of bitterness raw. The largest of the photo specimens was 3 inches across. These are often torn up rather than sliced.

There are a number of varieties which vary in color and durability. The photo specimens were purchased from an Asian market and are pretty sturdy - with care they'll last up to 4 days loosely bagged in the fridge. Some lighter colored ones from another market were extremely fragile and deteriorated noticeably by time I got them home. Some wild varieties are noted for deteriorating to unusability in several hours.

Oyster Mushroom

This form has become increasingly available in Southern California, and is far superior to the Common Oyster Mushroom as its flavor is robust and the caps are relatively strong. It's storage characteristics are good. In it's foam tray, lightly covered in plastic, it will be usable for a week or so. It is sturdy enough for cooking whole, slicing, dicing and other cooking applications. With luck, these will pretty much replace the common oyster mushroom within a few years. The largest of the photo specimens was 3-1/4 inch across. They were packed by a California mushroom grower, but were actually grown in China. 2017 US $3.98 / pound.

King Trumpet, Small

This largest member of the oyster mushroom family comes in a wide variety of sizes. The photo specimens were quite small, to 6 inches high with caps up to 3 inches across. They have little flavor raw, and do not work well in salads, but have good mushroom flavor when cooked, and remain fairly firm even with long cooking.

I particularly favor the now widely available Hokto brand (Hokto Kinoko Co., San Marcos California), a USDA certified Organic brand of small King Trumpet mushrooms (see photo). These last so long in an unopened package (over two weeks) I can always have fresh mushrooms on hand. On the other hand, some stores keep them too long - if the lower stem is darker than in the photo, reject them. Brands imported from Asia have not been as good. 2016 US $3.31 to $4.98 / pound depending on store.

King Trumpet, Tiny

These mineature versions of the largest member of the oyster mushroom family appeared here in Los Angeles in late 2019. They varied from 1-1/8 inches to 2-3/4 inches high. Their cooking characteristics were just the same as the Large King Trumpets (see below). They were purchased rom a large Asian market in Los Angeles (Alhambra) for 2019 US $2.27 / pound.

King Trumpet, Large

These largest of the Oyster Mushrooms are native to all sides of the Mediterranean region, but are now grown in vast quantity in China. They are available in almost all the Asian markets here in Southern California, and are harvested when they are still nearly all stem with hardly any cap. The stems are often around 2-1/2 inches diameter with caps around 3 inches diameter. The photo specimen on the right was 7-1/4 inches long, 2-1/4 inches diameter and weighed 9-5/8 ounces, a fairly normal size. Left to mature, the caps would fan out to a larger size.

These mushrooms have little flavor raw and don't work well in salads, but they have good mushroom flavor cooked. They are usually sliced crosswise or into lengthwise sticks or slices. Cut lengthwise, they are more mushroomy, and crosswise they are more absorbent of other flavors. They remain fairly firm even with long cooking.

King Trumpet, Large Dried

The package listed these as Pleurotus abalones, but there is no such scientific name - somebody made it up from the fact that these, and other large oyster mushrooms, are sometimes called "Abalone Mushrooms". The larges piece in the photo was 5-1/2 inches long and 2 inches wide, but there was on (less photogenic) piece in the package that was 7 inches long. They were purchased from a large Asian market in Los Angeles (San Gabriel) for 2019 US $2.29 for 2-1/2 ounces.

Oyster Mushroom

This form in clusters is not common, but occasionally available in Southern California. While it has a more distinct cap than common oyster mushrooms, it still displays the off-center stem. These are firmer than the common oyster mushroom and can stand a bit more abuse during cooking.