Enokitake/enokidake, enoki mushrooms, Golden Needle mushrooms, Velvet shanks, Velvet foot, winter mushrooms
(Flammulina velutipes)
The Japanese name refers to the type of mushroom that grow on stumps of the enoki or Chinese hackberry tree. Cultivation originated on wet logs, but is now mainly carried out in sawdust-filled bottles fitted with stiff collars to hold the delicate stems upright as they grow. Sometimes the sawdust is combined with rice bran and cornmeal to increase the nutrient availability. Its botanical name, volutipes, aptly describes its velvet foot or stem. It is easily recognized by its velvety brown stalk, sticky cap, and its pleasantly white or beige colour, but still looking more like a gumdrop planted on top of a thin stick. This is one mushroom that looks different in its cultivated form from those found in the wild. This is because cultivation is of young specimens which have small convex caps and very long, thin stems. The sticky, yellow to orange-brown cap is seldom more than a centimeter wide. Wild specimens grow in clusters on deciduous logs and develop a much less delicate shape, with thicker and stumpier velvety stems with the caps spreading out quite wide. Its sweet, grainy aroma can penetrate a room. It prefers a brightly-lit, cold, man-made shelter than that of the outdoors. Because its season is late autumn when warm winter spells encourage their growth, it is one of the few edible fungi to be referred to as winter mushrooms. Cultivation can be carried out almost anywhere in the world, but the main market and production remains with the Japanese. Other regions that cultivate enokitake include the US, China, Siberia, Asia Minor, Europe, Africa, and Australia. This mushroom is very fragile and highly perishable and almost always sold in vacuum packages, which helps prolong its shelf life, making it more stable for transport. The enoki is one of the few mushrooms eaten raw, and only from recently opened packages. Cases of salmonella poisoning have occurred after the consumption of improperly stored contaminated mushrooms. Its flavour is mild and nutty and can be found in Asian, specialty, and health food stores.
