Brown Enoki
I was introduced to enoki mushrooms (enokitake, enoki – named for the tree it grows on and take – meaning mushroom, in Japanese) decades ago. The first time I had them, like many Japanese foods, I thought they were unusual. And that’s about all I thought. Since then, I’ve come to enjoy and appreciate enoki mushrooms. They really are pretty unusual as mushrooms go and, as I have found, quite nutritious.
Enoki contain antioxidants and testing has indicated possible applications in the development of vaccines and cancer immunotherapy.
Typically I put these delicate shrooms in miso soup along with wakame (seaweed), green onion, and tofu. It’s delicious! You can buy enoki at Japanese food stores. I have never seen them in a typical grocery store although I’m sure they are to be found somewhere in the world.
The Chinese use enoki in a variety of ways. If you Google you can find many images of dishes that may give you some creative ideas if you want to incorporate them into your diet. The featured photo here is enoki I used just the other day in miso soup. You will find white enoki more commonly than brown, as pictured here as well. The dark-colored, wild form of the mushroom has been exposed to light whereas the white, cultivated ones have not.
If you’d like to read about the medicinal properties of enoki, go here:
http://www.medicalmushrooms.net/flammulina-velutipes-enokitake/
