Shiitake Mushrooms

A healing food that clears away the old and reconnects.

In 1309, Chinese medicine man Wu Rui was cited as writing “Shiitake improves qi (spirit, vital energy), doesn’t starve, cures cold and penetrates into the blood circulatory system”. The knowledge of modern science has largely confirmed Wu’s perceptive work on shiitake mushrooms. Beyond this, Emperors of ancient China ate the mushroom in great quantities to “prolong the onset of old age”, considering it an elixir of life. It bodes well that something with the quality of being an invigorator of life and vital energy, shows pronounced immune-modulating, cancer-inhibiting and nervous system regulating effects in modern research and studies.

Renown for their umami taste, which translates in Japanese as “essence of delicious”, shiitake mushrooms have become one of the most cultivated foods on Earth. They are able to be home-grown by using spawn and old logs, while existing in the wild far and wide across underground mycelium networks that can stretch out for miles in diameter. Funghi truly are unique organisms to what we are accustomed to in our daily, above ground, conscious life.

Spectacular shiitake

Qualities

· Inward moving · Immune potentiating · Healing · Umami taste · Below ground · Calms the nervous system ·

Character

Shiitake mushrooms are calming and grounding, associated with earth and wood. In a society overwhelmed with stimulants like coffee, it can be a balancing blessing.

They have a warming nature, with a unique umami taste as well as delicate sweet flavour when cooked. What makes them distinctly mushroomy is their chewy, meaty, earthy texture when we eat them.

Shiitake is available fresh, dried, in extract form (powdered or liquid), as well as in the extract of certain active compounds of the mushroom (such as lentinan)

Nutrition Information

Inflammatory Notes

Scientific Research

Recipes