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Hericium erinaceus is a beautiful, recognizable and rather rare mushroom with numerous useful properties. To appreciate the valuable qualities of the combed urchin, you need to study its description and characteristics.
Description of the comb urchin
Comb urchin, also called comb hericium, “mushroom noodles” and “grandfather’s beard”, has a very recognizable external structure.
The fruit body consists mainly of a large cap – in shape it is round or pear-shaped, elongated, slightly compressed on the sides. The size of the fruiting body can reach 20 cm, and the weight sometimes reaches 1,5 kg. The color of the fungus varies from light beige to cream, sometimes there are yellow or light brown fruiting bodies, usually the mushrooms darken already in adulthood.
Lion’s mane is almost impossible to confuse with another mushroom.
The crested hedgehog got its name due to an unusual hymenophore that makes it look like a hedgehog. The fruit body of the fungus is densely covered with long needle-thorns hanging down, they are cylindrical in shape, they can reach 5 cm in length. The shade of the needles is also light cream or beige.
At the break, the flesh of the combed blackberry has a whitish color, it is fleshy in structure. From contact with air, the flesh does not change color, but when dried, it turns yellow and becomes hard.
Where and how to grow
On the territory of Our Country, comb hericium can be found mainly in the Khabarovsk Territory, in Primorye, in the Crimea and the Caucasus, in Western Siberia and in the Amur Region. All over the world, the fungus is found in America and Europe, in Asian countries.
The crested blackberry settles on the trunks of trees – both dead and living. Basically, for its growth, the fungus chooses birches, oaks and beeches, and mass fruiting is observed from mid-summer to early October.
Important! Although the crested urchin is territorially distributed throughout Our Country, in practice it can be found quite rarely, the species is listed in the Red Book and belongs to endangered species.
Hericium comb belongs to very rare Red Book mushrooms.
Twins and their differences
The appearance of the comb hericium is very recognizable, and it is almost impossible to confuse it with other mushrooms. However, the fungus shares certain similarities with several related species.
Antennae hedgehog
The similarity between the species lies in the similar structure of the hymenophore. The cap of the barnacled blackberry is also covered with long thick needle-thorns hanging down with sharp tips. Species are similar to each other in shade. Both the crested and the barnacled hedgehogs have light beige or cream-colored caps and spines.
But unlike the comb, the antennal species usually grows in a tiled order, several hats are located one above the other. They are smaller in size than those of the comb hericium, each of them usually does not exceed 12 cm in diameter.
Antened hedgehog belongs to edible mushrooms and is suitable for food consumption. But you can eat it only at a young age, as you age, the flesh becomes too hard and unpleasant to taste.
Coral nut
Another similar species is the coral-like hedgehog, which vaguely resembles the comb hericium in structure and color. Fruiting bodies of both species grow on trees, have a light shade and non-standard shapes. But it is very easy to distinguish them – in the coral-like urchin, the needles are directed not down, but in all directions, and at first glance it resembles a coral bush, and not hanging noodles.
Coral hericium is also suitable for food use. You can use it, like other hedgehogs, at a young age, while the pulp of the fungus has not yet had time to dry.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
Comb hericium belongs to the category of edible mushrooms, but with one caveat. You can only eat young fruiting bodies, the pulp of which is quite tender. The mushroom is considered a delicacy – its taste is sweetish, very refined and reminiscent of seafood.
The cost of wild-growing crested urchins can reach 5 thousand dollars, in connection with this, fruiting bodies for sale are grown mainly artificially.
How combed urchins are prepared
Despite its absolute edibility, comb hericium needs to be carefully processed before cooking. It consists in the fact that all damaged, darkened, deformed or rotten spikes are removed from the fruiting body.
After that, the mushroom is immersed in a pot of boiling water and left for 5 minutes, and then caught with a slotted spoon and allowed to cool slightly. Thermally processed hedgehog can be cooked further according to several basic recipes.
Before cooking a hedgehog, you need to remove all darkened thorns from it.
Boiling
Most often, hedgehog is used in cooking in boiled form. It is added to salads, soups and main dishes. If the mushroom needs to be boiled, then during the primary processing it is not removed from the pan after 5 minutes, but left to boil for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the fruiting body.
During the cooking process, carrots, onions and potatoes are added to the mushroom pulp and chicken, resulting in a very tasty and healthy soup.
Pickling
Another popular cooking recipe is pickling, which allows you to preserve the valuable properties of the mushroom for the whole winter. Hericium is pre-boiled, at the same time the sauce is prepared – 2 large tablespoons of salt are mixed with 1 tablespoon of sugar, 4 tablespoons of vinegar and 3 chopped garlic cloves.
The sauce is brought to a boil and turned off almost immediately, and the boiled mushroom is cut into small pieces and placed in a glass jar. Peppercorns, cloves and bay leaves are added to the blackberry to taste, the ingredients are poured with hot marinade and the jars are rolled up. After cooling, you need to store the workpiece in the dark and cool, and you can use pickled hericium 3-4 weeks after preparation.
Pickled urchin can be stored all winter
Frying
One of the most delicious is fried gericium. The recipe looks like this:
- pre-treated mushroom cut into small pieces;
- heat the oil in a frying pan, cut the onion into half rings and fry until transparent;
- then add pieces of blackberry and fry until the onion acquires a golden hue.
After that, the pan is removed from the stove, the mushrooms are allowed to cool slightly and a little chopped garlic is added to them before serving. Fried urchins go well with potatoes, cereals, pasta and baked meats.
Medicinal properties of combed hedgehogs
Eating comb hericium is not only tasty, but also good for the health of the body. An unusual mushroom has numerous medicinal properties, and this further increases its value.
In China, comb hericium is considered a natural medicine that promotes healthy brain and nervous system function. In folk medicine, fruiting bodies are recommended to use:
- with gastritis and stomach ulcers;
- with diseases of the liver and pancreas;
- with ailments of the respiratory organs;
- with weakened immunity and chronic fatigue;
- with a tendency to depression and increased anxiety.
The anti-cancer properties of combed urchins deserve special mention. It is believed that the fungus has a beneficial effect on the body with leukemia and esophageal cancer, with pancreatic cancer, with fibroids and fibroids, with cysts, liver cancer, and breast tumors. The use of comb hericium during chemotherapy can reduce the negative impact of treatment on the body.
Also combed urchin is useful for brain function. Studies have shown that the fungus restores the functions of brain cells and prevents the development of sclerosis, and can also be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Comb hericium is highly valued in medicine
Is it possible to grow combed hedgehogs in the country
Since in nature the fruiting bodies of hericium are very rare and, moreover, are most often prohibited for collection, combed blackberry is often grown in the country. You can order mushroom mycelium in specialized stores or via the Internet, and hedgehog is bred in accordance with the following rules:
- To grow a mushroom, a fresh deciduous log is soaked for a couple of days, and then left for a week in a warm room with good ventilation.
- Then, in a log, small depressions are made in a checkerboard pattern, no more than 4 cm in depth and 1 cm in diameter. The gap between them should be about 10 cm.
- The purchased mycelium is carefully placed in these holes, and then the logs are wrapped in polyethylene with air holes made and left in the shade and warm.
- Once every 4 days, the logs are moistened so that they do not dry out, and when the first white threads of the mycelium appear, they are soaked in cold water for a day.
After that, the logs are placed upright and left in a warm and shaded place. For the winter, planting a combed hedgehog should be removed to a barn or basement. The first harvest can be harvested after about 9 months, fruiting bodies are best cut young and fresh. After the first picking of mushrooms for 2-3 weeks, logs with blackberry stop watering, and then resume watering. In the future, a rare mushroom bears fruit in waves, and the fruiting bodies are harvested as they appear, each time without waiting until they are completely ripe and dry.
You can grow a rare mushroom in your summer cottage
Important and interesting facts about combed urchins
Comb hericium is one of the rarest types of mushrooms and is officially listed in the Red Book. Usually it is impossible to collect it even in those places where it is found in the forest in natural conditions.
Many countries provide severe penalties for mushroom picking. So, in the UK, the collection of combed urchin is punishable by monetary fines of unlimited sizes and imprisonment for up to six months.
In China, comb hericium is a recognized remedy for stomach disorders and weakened immune systems. Mushroom extract is part of many medicines with a tonic and hematopoietic effect.
Comb hericium has antiparasitic properties. The mushroom is recommended for use in helminths, as it helps to quickly remove parasites from the intestines.
In the late 1990s, research in Germany isolated the substance erinacin E, a compound that stimulates the growth of nerve cells, from Hericium erinaceus. Thus, the hedgehog has acquired great medical significance. The mushroom has great potential – scientists think that in the future it will be able to help in the treatment of many diseases of the central nervous system that were previously considered incurable.
In some countries, collecting hedgehogs is punishable by huge fines.
Conclusion
Hericium erinaceus is an unusual, beautiful and very useful mushroom listed in the Red Book. Although it is impossible to collect it in the forest in most regions, it is quite possible to grow a hedgehog from spores in your own summer cottage. The value of the mushroom lies not only in its delicious taste, but also in its medicinal properties.
