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The yellow hedgehog (Hydnum repandum) is a good edible mushroom. Its aroma contains fruity and resinous notes. In Europe, it is considered a delicacy. Belongs to the genus Gidnum, sometimes it is also called Kolchak or notched blackberry.
Description of the yellow hedgehog
Hedgehog yellow has a well-defined hat with a stem, the surface is slightly velvety without scales, becoming smooth with age. The flesh is light, almost white, quite dense, easily broken, becoming yellow-brown at the break. The height of the fruiting body is from 5 to 10 cm. Young specimens are painted yellow-orange on top.
Cap Description
In young fruits, the cap is orange, rounded and slightly convex, the edges are bent down. In adulthood, the yellow-ocher color brightens, acquires a whitish tint, the shape becomes irregular with wavy edges and a concave middle. The surface of the old hat is dotted with pits and tubercles, as if crumpled.
Instead of plates, the hymenophore is in the form of white or yellow spines. During transportation, they easily come off and clog all the other mushrooms in the basket, so it is better to put the yellow blackberry in a separate container.
Description of the leg
It is usually short – from 3 to 8 cm, white, slightly narrowed downwards, resembling a curved cylinder. Its diameter is from 2 to 4 cm. The surface is painted white or yellowish. The older the mushroom, the darker it is.
Twins and their differences
The yellow hedgehog is a wonderful mushroom, it has no poisonous counterparts. It cannot be confused with fly agarics and grebes due to the structural features of the hymenophore.
Chanterelles, valuable edible mushrooms, are twins of the yellow blackberry. To notice the difference, you need to look under the hat – the chanterelle has yellow-orange plates there, and the blackberry has yellow spines.
The yellow blackberry (Hydnum repandum) is also similar to the reddish-yellow blackberry (Hydnum rufescens). This species is conditionally edible, differs in smaller sizes (cap diameter is about 5 cm) and bright orange color.
Where and how to grow
There are yellow urchins in forest clearings, mainly on the ground, among moss. They form mycorrhiza with deciduous and coniferous species of woody plants. Adult specimens often grow together with legs and hats, forming witch circles or rows on the ground.
Blackberry yellow grows in Europe, Asia and North America. Prefers regions with a temperate climate, found in Siberia and the Far East. Mass fruiting lasts from August to September, but the collection season lasts until the end of autumn.
Is yellow urchin edible or not
Yellow blackberry is a healthy and tasty mushroom. Experienced mushroom pickers love it and always put it in their baskets. Young specimens are subjected to minimal heat treatment. Old ones are boiled for at least 10 minutes. Their flesh is rough and slightly bitter.
How to cook yellow urchin
You can cook mushrooms in any way – boil, fry, pickle. Both young and mature specimens are suitable for culinary processing. During pre-treatment, the mushroom crop should not be soaked in water; yellow burdocks will become brittle.
Mushroom preparation
The fruits brought from the forest are immediately processed. Long-term storage reduces the nutritional value of forest delicacies.
Detailed description of the process:
- Mushrooms are cleaned of debris and sorted out.
- Large ones are cut into pieces so that it is convenient to cook. The hats do not have a skin, so they do not need to be peeled.
- After washing well in a basin or under running water, cut off the base of the leg with a sharp knife, remove insect-damaged and contaminated places.
- Then they dry it on a clean towel, and prepare the intended dish, preserve it or dry it for the winter.
How to fry
Preparing a delicious mushroom appetizer is very simple. For this you will need the following products:
- mushrooms – 1 kg;
- onion – 1 pcs .;
- carrot – 1 units;
- cream – 1 sterile;
- vegetable oil and spices – as needed.
Detailed description of the frying process:
- After preliminary preparation, the mushrooms are sent to a pan with heated butter or vegetable oil.
- In a separate pan, brown the chopped onion and a little carrot (optional) until golden brown.
- Onions and carrots are added to the mushrooms, salted to taste, poured with heavy cream, kept on medium heat for 3-5 minutes.
How to pickle
Mushrooms will not lose their shape and volume during pickling, they will be crispy and very tasty.
Products for the 720 ml jar:
- blackberries – 450 g;
- onions – 1 pcs.;
- garlic – 1 tooth;
- salt – 1 Art. l .;
- vinegar 5% – 2 tbsp. l .;
- rapeseed little – 1 tbsp. l.;
- black peppercorns – 10 pcs .;
- bay leaf – 1 pc.;
- boiling water for marinade – 250 ml.
Description of the process:
- Young specimens are selected for pickling. Prepared mushrooms are poured with boiling water and left to infuse for 10-15 minutes.
- Drain in a colander and rinse with running water.
- At the bottom of a clean glass jar, put a peeled, halved onion and a clove of garlic.
- Salt is poured, rapeseed oil and vinegar are poured, peppercorns and 100 ml of boiling water are added.
- Prepared hedgehogs are placed in a jar.
- Pour 150 ml of boiling water to the top, twist with a tin lid.
- After shaking the jar so that its contents are well mixed, turn it upside down. Leave in this position for one hour.
- After this time, the jar is placed on the bottom and put in the refrigerator.
How to freeze
Hedgehogs can be frozen fresh or pre-boiled in boiling water for three minutes. In the first case, clean, well-washed and dried mushrooms are packaged in bags and frozen. Boiled hedgehogs are thrown into a colander, let the water drain, after that they are also packaged in bags and frozen.
Pickling
For salting as spices use:
- garlic;
- dill umbrellas;
- horseradish leaf;
- pepper peas.
Some mushroom pickers, in order not to interrupt the flavor, use only garlic for pickling. The recipe below is good because the mushrooms do not need to be pre-soaked as with cold salting.
Products:
- yellow hedgehogs – 1 kg;
- salt and spices – as needed;
- water – 1 l;
- lean oil – 50 ml.
Description of the process:
- Prepared mushrooms are put in boiling water, adding 0,5 tsp per liter of water. salt. When the water boils, cook for 3-5 minutes.
- The foam can not be removed, boiled hedgehogs are thrown into a colander and washed under running water. Let drain 15-20 min.
- Horseradish leaves, peas of allspice and black pepper, garlic are put on the bottom in a clean glass jar, two pinches of salt are poured.
- Mushrooms are placed in a jar in layers of 3-4 cm, sprinkled with salt (about 1-2 pinches each). Dill umbrellas and more garlic are placed in the middle of the jar.
- Mushroom layers are well tamped by hand. When the last layer is laid, 3-4 cm should remain to the edge of the can.
- A horseradish leaf is placed on top as a shutter, a pinch of salt is poured and a little vegetable oil is poured.
- Cover the jar with a clean nylon lid and put in the refrigerator.
Useful properties of yellow blackberry
Due to their healing properties, yellow urchins have been used in Chinese traditional medicine for centuries. The composition of the mushroom pulp includes vitamins, macro- and microelements (K, Ca, Na, Ph, Zn, Cu, Se), amino acids, etc. A substance has been isolated from the blackberry, which is cytotoxic in relation to various cancer cells, especially cancer stomach.
Beneficial features:
- Applying mushroom juice to the wound prevents infection and suppuration.
- When using hedgehog, the body’s resistance to viral diseases increases, immunity increases.
- Mushroom polysaccharides strengthen the walls of blood vessels.
- The biologically active complexes that make up the pulp promote hematopoiesis, stimulating the production of red blood cells.
With prolonged use of blackberry yellow, the volume of the lungs increases, the nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract are restored, the work of the endocrine glands is normalized, and the overall tone is increased.
In China, mushroom tincture has long been prescribed for prolonged depression. It calms and lowers blood pressure, fights insomnia. On the basis of these mushrooms, therapeutic ointments are made, as well as tonic and nourishing cosmetic masks, which have a high regenerating effect, improve the condition of the skin, hair and nails.
How to grow a yellow hedgehog on the site
In nature, this representative of the mushroom kingdom can grow on any soil, but prefers calcareous soil, which must be taken into account when choosing a place for growing yellow blackberry at home. Its cultivation gives good results, the main thing is to purchase high-quality mycelium from trusted manufacturers.
Growing order:
Fluff up the ground under a tree or bush.
Mushroom mycelium is scattered over the surface.
A small layer of forest soil is poured on top, mixed in equal proportions with humus.
Sprinkle with the earth remaining from the fluffing.
Watered with a garden watering can on dry days, spending up to 10 liters per 1 sq. m.
The mushroom picker begins to bear fruit about six months after planting the mycelium in autumn or spring. She lives for many years as long as the tree that feeds her grows.
Conclusion
Yellow hedgehog is a valuable edible species, little known to novice mushroom pickers. It has no poisonous counterparts, so you can collect it without any fear. In cooking, it is not capricious and versatile. You can make any mushroom dishes and winter preparations from it.