Black Pearl Mushrooms

We had a dish from Sticky Rice this evening: Pad Hed Poa, which was made with black pearl mushrooms (I'm on a funghi kick). I can't find any info, or a source, for them via google. Can anyone here help?

tyavm!

HI,

If you had the scientific name for this mushroom, you would find it easily. When it is a common name or a commercial invention, then you never quite know what you have. Common names vary from region to region with similar names not necessarily referring to the same mushroom.

Years ago, there was a mushroom farm between the two horse tracks on the southside. They farmed in truck trailers using the abundant supply of horse manure available to them. This operation developed colorful varieties of oyster mushrooms: a yellow color oyster was called Canary, a gray oyster was called Illinois Pearl and they had a reddish-pink oyster whose name I don't recall. I believe they went out of business.

Regards,

They come canned and I'm almost certain the Thai places in town use canned. Look for them in grocery stores on Argyle or at PNA or Thailand food corp.

As I thought more about it, I figured that they must have been canned. Have you seen them in the stores? Are they labeled in English or will I be going by the pictures?

Are these the ones you are talking about?



Straw Mushrooms?

No. Quite a different fungus as explained below.

With all the newer stuff that's been written about Aroy, Sticky Rice, TAC etc., it's sometimes easy to forget the tremendous amount of information regarding Thai food (and particularly northern Thai food) that was revealed to non-Thai speaking diners in Chicago, LA and beyond by Erik M. For example, Erik wrote a bit in praise of soon-to-be-GNR (finally!) Aroy back in an '05 post I quote below. "Pearl mushrooms" are discussed. Unfortunately, the great photos are gone.

As I understand it, the pearl mushrooms are actually a variety of earthstar fungus related to truffles. Based on what I've seen online very little has been written in English about this delicacy [edit: as an ingredient] which apparently is not very common generally even within Thailand but is instead peculiar to the North. We're lucky to have it around because we're lucky to have Northerners cooking here.

Erik M. wrote:This noon, Los Angeles Thai food withdrawl pains had me racing to Aroy Thai for a plate of khanõm jiin náam yaa*. I am particularly fond of Aroy's version of the dish, especially when I ask the kitchen to include lûuk chin plaa, or "fish balls," in addition to the standard tinned tuna. The particular type of "fish ball" used at Aroy has a very pleasant texture and taste, and the náam yaa noodle sauce itself is wonderfully complex with plenty of spicy, peppery heat.


khanõm jiin náam yaa


incorporating the sauce


No sooner did my dish of noodles arrive than the owner/cook came out to my table with a serving of kaeng hèt phaw for me to try.


kaeng hèt phaw


kaeng hèt phaw--a better look

This dish is not something that is actually available in the restaurant, but on occasion it is made in the kitchen and then dispatched for sale at Thailand Food Corp. on North Broadway.

This mellow red curry features hèt phaw, which is an exotic fungi from Northern Thailand that is sometimes referred to as an "earth star." Hèt phaw has a very firmly-textured "rind" and a pronounced bitter taste. In addition to hèt phaw, Aroy’s version of this curry includes bamboo shoots, accacia leaves (cha-om), and plaa kràwp, or Thai "smoked" fish. It is really quite a sensation.


tinned Astraeus hygrometricus from Thailand Food Corp.

Regards,
Erik M.

p.s. If you are curious about my recent dining adventures in L.A.'s Thai Town, keep an eye on the "Beyond Chicagoland" board.

Aroy Thai
4656 N. Damen
773.275.8360
11 a.m.-10 p.m., daily

Thailand Food Corp.
4821 N. Broadway
773.728.1199



* I have written about this dish at some length, here and here.

Thailand Food Corp. is likely still your best bet.

Coincidentally, I was revisiting Erik's writings on this very matter just a couple of days ago, as I had gotten to talking about these mushrooms with the Thai hostess at a local restaurant here (in Boston) with a Northern Thai menu. She said they only cook with these when they're in season, and the canned variety is "too soft, not hard and bitter enough" -- which made me wish I could try the fresh ones some day.

There is a good picture on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/siebe/160760212/

Boy, the fresh ones must be something to masticate. The canned version has a lot of crunch as you know. (The flavor must be quite muted in the canned version too -- I figured they were all about texture.) I'm a huge fan of bitter food and drink, so I will keep an eye out for fresh pearl mushrooms. Thanks.