Fungus varieties

Black fungus is a common ingredient and is sold in dry goods stores. Many people buy black fungus to make cold dishes at home, and it is also very delicious when stir-fried with cabbage. When buying black fungus, you will find that different black fungus have different prices. This is because there are differences in the varieties of black fungus. The common black fungus is the Northeastern black fungus. They include wild black fungus, spring fungus, winter fungus and autumn fungus. In addition, the grades of each type are also different.

What are the varieties of black fungus?

Black Fungus Grade

Grade one wood ear is the best, dark brown, shiny, and gray on the back. Fist ears, runny ears, lost ears, moth ears and moldy ears are not allowed.

Secondary ear piece, dark brown, back dark gray. Fisted ears, runny ears, lost ears, worm-eaten ears and moldy ears are allowed.

The luster of the third-level ear pieces is mostly dark brown or light brown. The number of fist ears shall not exceed 1%, and the number of runny ears shall not exceed 0.5%. Runny ears, worm-eaten ears and moldy ears are not allowed.

Where is the best place to produce black fungus? Wild black fungus only grows in broad-leaved forest areas, such as the Lesser Khingan Mountains in the northeast. Areas like the Greater Khingan Mountains and Changbai Mountains are dominated by coniferous forests, and there is actually no wild black fungus distributed there. Wild fungus does not grow in places where pine nuts are produced. The production of wild black fungus is extremely low, and buyers from other places can hardly get it. Basically, the good fungus is all in the Northeast.

China is the main producer of black fungus, and the production areas are mainly distributed in Jilin, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi and other places. Among them, Hailin City in Mudanjiang District, Heilongjiang Province and Huangsongdian Town, Jiaohe County, Jilin Province are the largest black fungus bases in China.

Origin distribution of black fungus

1. There are 9 species of black fungus in my country. Heilongjiang has all 8 existing varieties, Yunnan has 7 species, and Lu's County, Henan has one species. Wild black fungus is mainly distributed in the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains, Qinba Mountains, Funiu Mountains, Huanren, Liaoning, etc. Fang County, Suizhou in Hubei Province, Qingchuan in Sichuan Province, Wenshan, Honghe, Baoshan, Dehong, Lijiang, Dali, Xishuangbanna, Qujing in Yunnan Province and Lushi County in Henan Province are the production areas of black fungus in China.

2. Mudanjiang area in Heilongjiang Province has unique geographical resources and climate advantages. The famous forest and snow fields, Snow Village, Wohu Mountain, Lotus Lake and Jingbo Lake are located in this area. The region is rich in forestry resources, has a large temperature difference between day and night, and abundant mountain spring water, which are most suitable for the growth of various precious edible fungi such as black fungus. The quality of the black fungus produced is also the best in the country.

3. The Yehe area in Chunhua Town, Jilin Province is mountainous, with lush trees and vast forests, providing excellent conditions for the cultivation and breeding of black fungus.

4. In addition, the Yunling and Hengduan Mountain areas in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong and Guangxi are also important black fungus producing areas. Qinling Mountains, Bashan Mountains, Funiu Mountains, Shennongjia Dabie Mountains, Wuyi Mountains and other places also produce high-quality black fungus.

Black Fungus Varieties

The main types of Northeastern fungus include wild black fungus, spring fungus, summer fungus and autumn fungus.

Wild black fungus grows on fallen trees and stumps in the forest. Its yield is low, and currently accounts for less than 0.1% of the market share. The ear slices of wild black fungus are small, of medium thickness, gray on one side and black on the other side. The ear base is small, light, and has a good taste, which is what we often call chewy. Some vendors use black fungus (the worst quality, costing more than ten yuan per catty) to impersonate wild black fungus and sell it for more than 100 yuan. I hope the general public will not be fooled (Ali's note: Why do many vendors in the market use the worst fungus to pass off as wild fungus? That's because wild fungus is wild, and the color, shape and thickness are not ideal, so the worst artificial fungus is used to impersonate it. However, many vendors use small bowls of fungus to impersonate it, because they look good and are small, and buyers who don't know will be fooled. As for the taste, I haven't eaten wild fungus, but I have heard that it is average. The people from Changbai Mountain who I purchase from also said that it is not ideal. However, there are fewer wild fungus after all, and they grow in woods, while artificial fungus grows on cultivated land in the mountains).

The black fungus cultivated in this section is artificially cultivated. In recent years, due to the country's implementation of the "Returning Farmland to Villages" and "Natural Village Protection" projects, the output is very low, less than 1% of the market. The black fungus in this section is yellowish brown or light black, the ear pieces are of different sizes, the ear pieces are thin, some are in clusters, and some are single pieces. The ear base is small, and there is bark but no sawdust at the base of the ear. It has a good taste and good quality. The black fungus cultivated with substitute materials is the black fungus that is put into a plastic bag with sawdust. It is divided into spring fungus, summer fungus and autumn fungus. Spring fungus is the black fungus produced in early spring from May to late June. It has large ear pieces, thick flesh, large ear roots, black front, gray back, and better taste; summer fungus is the fungus produced between June 20 and August 10. It has large ear pieces, thin ear pieces, black and smooth on both sides, poor taste and poor quality; autumn fungus is the fungus that comes between August 10 and October 20. Most of the autumn ear pieces are single pieces, with small ear pieces, medium ear thickness, small ear roots, gray-black front, gray back, and short hairs. It has a good taste and good quality. So it is not the case that the larger and thicker the ear pieces, the better the quality.