Chicken of the Woods Mushroom

[4rum]

Chicken of the Woods is a choice edible. It is a Sulphur Shelf Polypore. It has no gills or stem. It grows directly on the wood of hardwoods, mostly oak.


Underneath is lemon yellow (beautiful) and filled with pores. Never gills.


This mushroom has an undeniable 'chicken' taste. The texture is much like chicken as well.


One of my very favorites for a skillet of stir-fry. Can be a chicken substitute in almost any chicken recipe. I've even made jerky with it.

 

[jeffashman]

Nice!

 

[Jeff15]

Unusual Fungi, nice shots ...

 

[PhotoHobbyist]

I think you were right that I misidentified my mushroom on another thread. I added a close up shot to my post. Good thing I don't pick them or I'd be dead!

 

[4rum]

Pretty sure what you found is Jack O Lantern. Go back at night, and there should be a faint glow coming from them. Jack O lanterns actually glow in the dark.

 

[PhotoHobbyist]

Pretty sure what you found is Jack O Lantern. Go back at night, and there should be a faint glow coming from them. Jack O lanterns actually glow in the dark.

Cool! Unfortunately, I check up on them yesterday and was shocked that they had disappeared and all that was left was a brown goo. Never seen a mushroom disappear so fast. If I see a new batch I will definitely try to see them glow after dark. Thanks for the tip!

 

[smoke665]

Chicken of the Woods is a choice edible.

I have an old friend who learned to forage in nature as a child, under the careful eye of her parents and grandparents. She could easily distinguish between good and bad, me I had no clue, and no desire to make a mistake. Ive often wondered how people first learned what was safe to eat, or use for medicinal purposes. Did they nibble on something, if it tasted good and didn't kill them or make them sick, they kept on eating it?

 

[jeffashman]

I have an old friend who learned to forage in nature as a child, under the careful eye of her parents and grandparents. She could easily distinguish between good and bad, me I had no clue, and no desire to make a mistake. Ive often wondered how people first learned what was safe to eat, or use for medicinal purposes. Did they nibble on something, if it tasted good and didn't kill them or make them sick, they kept on eating it?

Yep, you have to wonder. One tastes good and doesn't do anything, one kills you, and one makes you see angels and talking squirrels...

 

[4rum]

I have an old friend who learned to forage in nature as a child, under the careful eye of her parents and grandparents. She could easily distinguish between good and bad, me I had no clue, and no desire to make a mistake. Ive often wondered how people first learned what was safe to eat, or use for medicinal purposes. Did they nibble on something, if it tasted good and didn't kill them or make them sick, they kept on eating it?

I believe you have the exact formula! And, it probably took ions to establish. Luckily, when I decided to learn more than the morel, which I'd harvested and eaten since childhood, I had the internet and wonderful field guides to rely on.

 

[4rum]

Yep, you have to wonder. One tastes good and doesn't do anything, one kills you, and one makes you see angels and talking squirrels...

Ummmm, you have a location on those talking squirrel ones? Asking for a friend.