End of the season 青头菌

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It's almost the end of wild mushroom season: the summer rains are playing out, cooler days arriving. Selection is limited, prices climbing. I paid ￥60 for a little over 500 grams of 青头菌 qingtou jun ("green head mushroom") a couple days ago and they were decent but not prime. This is another of those Yunnan mushrooms that don't really exist to any significant extent in the west. Their Latin name is Russula Virescens and they grow in mixed mountain forests, broad leaf and pine. The best ones come from the lower NW of the province: Chuxiong 楚雄, Baoshan 宝山, Dali 大理。

 

Decided to make them into a hearty soup, building on a rich home-made chicken stock. Normally I would use them solo so they would shine, but this time they shared the limelight with several other vegetables to round out the flavor. (Please click the photos to enlarge them.)

 

        

 

 

Cooked them with 苦菜 kucai, 番茄 tomato，洋葱 onion, 大蒜 garlic, and chicken thigh meat 鸡腿肉。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Served the soup one day with rice and the next day with noodles.  Tasted good; full and mellow. Recipe on request. 

 

     

 

 

Overall it has been a great year here for wild mushrooms. Plenty of rain with sunny days in between the showers. One will still be able to get good ones in restaurants for several more weeks, but they will cost more than most of us regular folks are willing or able to pay.