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Snow fungus



Snow fungus

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Subdivision: Hymenomycotina
Class: Heterobasidiomycetes
Order: Tremellales
Family: Tremellaceae
Genus: Tremella
Species: T. fuciformis
Binomial name
Tremella fuciformis
Berkeley
Tremella fuciformis
mycological characteristics:
 
smooth hymenium
 

no distinct cap

 

hymenium attachment is not applicable

 

lacks a stipe

 

spore print is white

 

ecology is saprophytic

 

edibility: choice

Snow fungus (Tremella fuciformis, also known as white fungus or silver tree-ear fungus) is a type of jelly fungus (a kind of mushroom) that is used in Chinese cuisine. In Chinese, it is called 银耳 (pinyin: yín ěr; literally "silver ear"), 雪耳 (pinyin: xuě ěr; literally "snow ear"); or 白木耳 (pinyin: bái mù ěr, literally "white wood ear"), and in Japanese it is called shiro kikurage (シロキクラゲ, lit. "white tree jellyfish").

The fungus grows in frilly masses on trees and is off-white in color and very translucent.

The product is often purchased dried and must be soaked before use. It is used in both savory and sweet dishes. While tasteless, it is enjoyed for its jelly-like texture as well as its supposed medicinal benefits. Most commonly, it is used to make a sweet dessert soup called luk mei (六味), often in combination with jujubes and dried longans, among other ingredients.


See also

 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Snow_fungus". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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