Maitake Mushroom Products (Hen of the woods)
This famous Japanese mushroom has always been viewed as a joyous discovery when found in the wild. Here at Indigo Herbs we are equally joyful to have a premium quality Maitake Mushroom Powder within our powdered mushroom range. Grifola frondosa has been prized for its rich deep smoky taste for centuries in Japan. It is also one of a series of mushrooms that has been scientifically proven to improve taste when cooked in conjunction with other foods. Indigo Herbs is proud to have this prized mushroom powder to be utilised in food and smoothies and to be enjoyed for its unique flavour.
The Japanese have a long relationship with mushrooms both within the kitchen and as medicine. High in the mountainous regions of Japan, the Maitake Mushroom has long been a source of vitality and income for those who foraged for it in the wild. The Shoguns of the Northern provinces favoured this delicacy before all others and the local chieftains would pay villagers the weight of a clump of Maitake Mushrooms in pure silver. The mushrooms would then be offered to the Shogun who believed that Maitake could extend their life. The literal translation of Maitake is ‘dancing mushroom’ relating to villagers finding a big crop of Maitake and dancing for joy knowing that silver would soon lining their pockets.
In the wild Maitake can grow to be very big. In a good year, some specimens found in the wild have been recorded at 50cm in diameter. Growing from the dead or dying roots of hard wood trees, the fruiting bodies of this fungus can resemble overlapping feathers on a chicken’s tail. White and fleshy the stalks usually blend together to form one meaty lump. Maitake is a soft polypore mushroom and one of only a few in the family of polypore that can be eaten.
