Meripilus giant: photo of a tree mushroom

Cooking recipes

Young fruiting bodies of sulfur-yellow tinder fungus are tasty and are used in salads, fried, stewed (roast with potatoes), for making snacks and pie fillings. You can even make cutlets from them, dry them, cook salted, marinate them.

Primary processing

For safety reasons, a heat treatment of 40045 minutes is recommended. If there is complete confidence that the mushroom is real and not false, then 20-30 minutes is enough.

Cooking

Boiling mushrooms is one of the main operations before further cooking. The washed fruit bodies of the tinder fungus are placed in a saucepan with salted water and boiled for 40 minutes. After cooking, the water must be drained; it must not be used for food.

Frying

Fried mushrooms are one of the most delicious dishes. The sulfur-yellow tinder fungus must first be boiled, and then cut and fried.

Ingredients:

• 0.5 kg of boiled mushrooms;
• 2 onions;
• 4 tablespoons sunflower oil;
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste;
• salt and pepper to taste.

How to cook a sulfur-yellow tinder fungus:

1. Cut the boiled tinder fungus into strips, the onion into half rings.
2. Fry onions and mushrooms for 10 minutes in a skillet with sunflower oil.
3. Add tomato paste, spices and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, stirring gently.

Pickling

Juicy pickled tinder fungi retain their useful and nutritious qualities and have a wonderful taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 mushroom (about 2 kg);
• 300 g of water;
• 2 tbsp salt;
• 1 tbsp. l. Sahara;
• 100 ml of 9% vinegar;
• bay leaf - 3 pcs.;
• ground black pepper to taste.

How to pickle a chicken mushroom:

1. Rinse the mushroom, cut into slices and place in a large saucepan.
2. Add water, place over medium heat and bring to a boil.
3. Add salt, sugar, spices (except vinegar) and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Add vinegar and leave for 10-12 hours at room temperature.
5. When serving, sprinkle with unrefined sunflower oil, sprinkle with herbs.
6. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Canning for the winter

For long-term storage, put boiled hot pickled mushrooms according to the recipe described above in glass jars, add 1 tablespoon of 70% vinegar per 1 liter and close hermetically with an iron lid. If you have a large freezer, tinder fungi can be frozen.

Stewed mushroom

This method of cooking gives the mushroom pieces a more delicate soft consistency, the stewed tinder fungus can be used as a gravy for side dishes. Cooking will not take long:

1. Take 0.5 kg of boiled tinder fungus and two onions, cut them into thin slices.
2. Put chopped food in a frying pan with heated vegetable oil, add 3-4 tbsp. tablespoons of sour cream and sauté for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Close the lid and simmer over low heat for another 3-5 minutes.

Mushroom pate

It is easy to make a pate; such a dish can even be canned for the winter, but for this you need to slightly change the recipe by adding vinegar to the list of components.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of mushrooms;
• 0.5 - 0.7 kg of onions;
• salt and pepper to taste.

Cooking step by step:

1. Wash the mushrooms, cut into large pieces, put them in boiling water and cook for 40 minutes.
2. Drain the water and leave the boiled tinder fungus to cool.
3. Chop the onion and mix with the mushrooms, add salt and pepper.
4. Fry in a large amount of sunflower oil, stirring regularly, until tender (10-15 minutes).
5. Cover and simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. The cooled mass must be ground in a blender until smooth.

Tinder fungus pate is perfect for making breakfast sandwiches. Spread the slices of bread with mayonnaise and put the pate on top.

A tasty and aromatic dish is obtained by baking sulfur-yellow tinder fungus in the oven:

1. Peel 500 g of mushrooms, cut into large pieces and boil in salted water for 40 minutes. Drain the water, wait until it drains and the slices dry a little.
2. Season with salt and pepper, squeeze out the juice of half a lemon, pour over with vegetable oil and stir.
3. Place the mushrooms on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at 180 ° C for 15-20 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley before serving.

What is tinder fungus

What is a tinder fungus, its medicinal properties, how to take it, what are the beneficial properties of this mushroom, all this is of great interest to those who lead a healthy lifestyle, monitor their health, and are interested in folk methods of treatment, including with the help of medicinal plants. So we will try to answer these questions in the following article.

So here:

Two types of this fungus deserve close attention: sulfur-yellow tinder fungus and larch tinder fungus.

Sulfur-yellow polypore (Latin Laetiporus sulphureus) is a polypore fungus of the Polyporaceae family

It is considered conditionally edible, but sometimes it can have a toxic effect, it is recommended to use it with caution and to a limited extent.

Fruit bodies are annual, usually located not high above the ground on tree trunks. At the first stage of development, the sulfur-yellow tinder fungus looks like a tear-shaped yellowish fleshy mass from intense yellow to orange ("flowing form"). Gradually, the fruiting body hardens, acquiring the "ear" shape characteristic of tinder fungi, consisting of several accrete fan-shaped pseudo-caps, often sitting on one common base, occasionally single. The size of the hats is from 10 to 40 cm.

The maximum thickness at the trunk of a tree is about 7 cm. The mass of the mushroom can reach 10 kg or more. The edges of the fruiting bodies are wavy and are divided into lobes by deep cracks. The mushroom is always covered with a light creamy yellow fluff.

Wikipedia

A widespread wood-destroying parasitic fungus that infects deciduous and coniferous trees. Causes red-brown destructive stem rot, red-brown prismatic core rot. It mainly affects the core of the tree trunk, less often the sapwood. Stem rot usually develops in old trees. Its length is about 3 m, but it can be up to 20 m.

With a strong development of rot in the affected trees, the branches first dry out, then the whole tree dries out. Rot infection occurs through broken branches, burns and wounds on the surface of the trunks. The fungus is able to continue its development on dead wood for several years after the death of the tree.

When burning fruiting bodies, smoke scares away small insects (mosquitoes, midges, etc.).

For medicinal purposes, it is grown in culture in Asia, and in Europe and the United States it is cultivated as edible.

Places of growth of giant meripilus.

Meripilus giant is partly found in Europe, but is ubiquitous in the northern hemisphere. These fungi settle on deciduous trees, mainly beeches, and cause the development of white rot. As a rule, they settle at the roots of the tree. Giant meripilus bear fruit from June to autumn.

Evaluation of the edibility of the giant merypilus.

Giant meripilus belongs to the category of edible mushrooms. Only young fruiting bodies are used for food, since their flesh is tender, and in old age they become too tough. This mushroom has good taste, it is suitable for all types of culinary processing, but not suitable for pickling and salting.

The similarity of the giant meripilus with other species.

Inexperienced mushroom pickers may confuse the giant merypilus with a curly griffin or a ram mushroom. You can recognize the giant merypilus by the pulp that darkens on the cut and blackening spores when pressed.

Medicinal properties of the giant meripilus.

The methanol extract of the giant merypilus contains saturated and unsaturated fatty acids: linolenic, oleic and palmic acids. It also contains ergosterol peroxide. Thanks to this, the mushroom is promising for medical research. It can be effective in combating diseases that have a hypersensitive response, such as asthma.

The crude methanol extract of Meripilus giganteus has cytotoxic activity against Lewis lung carcinoma.

Related species.

Abortiporus two years old - an inedible relative of the giant merypilus. Fruiting bodies consist of single or tiled caps, which sit on a narrowed base. The structure of the cap is elastic leathery. Their shape is fan-shaped or semicircular. The color is whitish at first, then it becomes red-brown and brown-red.

Two-year-old abortions grow on deciduous trees, most often on elm, linden and oak, in rare cases they come across on conifers. They grow in mixed forests and parks. This is a relatively rare species.

Antrodia golden is also a relative of the giant merypilus. Fruit bodies are of its prostrate shape. The color is yellow or white. The surface of the caps in young fruiting bodies is at first even, and later, cobbles and tubercles are formed. The consistency of the mushroom is damp.

It is also a wood-dwelling mushroom. You can find it on coniferous and deciduous species. Lives in dead trees.

Stages of development

False tinder fungus, like other species, grows not only in Russia, but also in Europe. It can be found both on living and already dead trees. In this case, the damage is foci. Infection of living trees occurs in places of damage to the bark and when spores of the fungus enter the cracks. When the decay process is just beginning, the wood takes on a brown color. After that, light yellow spots are formed. In subsequent stages, black lines appear on yellowish and off-white areas of rot.

Even someone who is not well versed in mushrooms knows that certain mushrooms can be eaten, and some of them are inedible. There are even representatives of the mushroom kingdom that are extremely harmful. When they grow on a tree, it rots. These types include the false tinder fungus, which can live up to 80 years. This mushroom is very widespread and can be seen quite often in the forests of our country.

general characteristics

This mushroom is long-lived and is found in areas where there are many trees. For them, this is a real mortal enemy. As it grows, it causes the formation of white rot. If a tree is infected with such a fungus, then it will die pretty quickly. This happens because a false tinderpop appeared on the tree, which, by the way, is not difficult to determine the age of. Each year, a new layer appears on the bottom of the mushroom. It is almost impossible to separate them, but they are easy to count.

Unlike the real tinder fungus, the surface of the false species is riddled with cracks. They are quite profound. This species belongs to polyporous fungi. Most of them are inedible. Such a representative belongs to the genus fellinus, which has several species, for example, the pine sponge, which includes the false pine tinder fungus.

False tinder fungi have many other names. They are also called burnt, and the people call them tree mushrooms. If you literally translate the name from Latin, you get a "cork". The variety of false tinder fungi fits into one genus, Fellinus. This name was given to these mushrooms for a reason. Indeed, in adulthood, it is somewhat reminiscent of a cork, the location of which is the bark of a tree.

Description

The surface of the mushroom is covered with a black crust. The mushroom is attached to the tree sideways. The body is round with blunt ends. The shape looks like a hemisphere or hoof.The diameter of the mushroom can be up to 25 millimeters, and in height with its growth it is 12 cm.

It is very difficult to distinguish different types of mushrooms by external signs, but you can do this by the type of tree on which it grows. Some of them prefer poplar, others - pine, other types of trees. The false tinder fungus belongs to perennial mushrooms, but it cannot be attributed to the tubular species, since the location of the tubes is the inner part of the fruit itself. One new layer is formed annually. It is represented by a hard hoof-like growth. It is characterized by significant color variability with different shades. The color can be chestnut or even cherry hues.

The mushroom is very tough, so it is not eaten. Its hardness cannot be eliminated even if it is boiled for a long time. But one should not assume that this representative is useless for people. It is widely used for medical purposes.

Characteristics of healing properties

If in the old days this mushroom, in crushed form, was used only as smoking mixtures, now it is used for medicinal purposes. Chinese folk medicine uses this mushroom for the prevention and treatment of cardiac pathology, conditions caused by liver pathology, and the prevention of oncology. But it should be said that only the mushroom that grows in Taiwan can be used to fight cancer. In addition, the mushroom can be used as a preventive measure against blood clots.

Natural prevalence

It is quite widespread in European countries and on the territory of our country. The place of its growth is deciduous and coniferous forests. Most often it can be seen on the trunk of a birch tree. It can appear not only on a sick, decaying tree. It is likely that it will appear on healthy trees as well. In addition, he prefers to grow on stumps, in dead wood. More often it is characterized by a single growth, but it is not uncommon to find couples. Fruit formation is observed during the warmest season. It starts in May and ends in December.

Description of the giant meripilus.

The fruiting body of the giant meripilus consists of numerous caps. The hats have a very thin structure. The surface of the caps is slightly velvety, maybe a little scaly. The color of the caps varies from reddish to brown and brown. The surface has notches and concentric grooves. The edges of the cap are wavy, slightly curved.

The hats are shaped like semicircular plates. They are located very tightly. The total mass of large fruiting bodies can reach 25-30 kilograms.

The hats are mounted on one common base. The legs are not available as such. The base is formless.

The flesh of the giant meripilus is slightly sweet. Its color is white, a red tint appears very quickly on the break, then the flesh becomes dark. Spores are white.