Early last week, I was hiking on a nearby forest trail that I frequent when I happened upon a felled oak with a parasitic fungus festering bountifully all around its sideways trunk. Immediately it reminded me of photos I’ve seen of
Laetiporus sulphureus, the chicken of the woods, an uncommon delicacy in the Midwest. Here are some photos I took of the fruiting mushroom:
I don't normally do this sort of thing, but I knew what it was and that I probably wouldn't see it again any time soon. When I had no doubt that it was as I suspected, I returned to collect as much as I could carry, which amounted to about 12 pounds. I tried to cut a few inches from the base, where stem met bark so that they might fruit again before the Summer’s end, but in any case, this is a perennial mushroom and they’ll be back next year in similarly massive quantities.
Were I to buy them from a market, this much might cost around $250, so you could say that I had a spectacular haul. I rinsed and scrubbed them several times before cutting them and storing them in the freezer, where they will keep for up to a year.
Nutritionally speaking, I haven’t found much information other than
this site, although I can’t verify its reliability. If these figures are to be believed, then the mushroom is an excellent protein source.
Chicken of the Woods is a good source of potassium and Vitamin C. 100g of Chicken of the Woods mushrooms contain 33 calories, 6g of carbs, 3g of fiber, 14g of protein, 1g of fat, 150 mg of potassium, 10% of daily Vitamin C, and 5% of daily Vitamin A.
Last night I sautéed the mushroom in olive oil alongside some peppers and onion, and I ate it with wild rice. You have to be thorough in cooking it, however, as I’ve read that undercooked Laetiporus can cause indigestion. It really does seem to taste like chicken, or at least how I remember chicken.
I’ll keep updating this thread if I come across any more of it, or if I find any particularly good recipes. My understanding is that you can cook it however you might cook a chicken recipe, so feel free to share any of those you’ve enjoyed because I’m looking.
