Ice mushroom (Snow, Silver): photo and description, recipes

Snow fungus is an uncommon, but very tasty mushroom from the Tremello family. Of interest is not only the unusual appearance of the fruiting bodies, but also the taste, as well as the beneficial properties for the body.

What is this ice mushroom and what does it look like

Ice mushroom is known by many names – snow, silver, jellyfish mushroom, white or fusiform shaker, silver or snow ear, fucus tremella. A photo of a snow mushroom demonstrates that in appearance it resembles a kind of ice flower, translucent and very beautiful.

The photo of the ice mushroom shows that its fruiting body is resilient and elastic, similar to gelatin, but at the same time quite solid. The color of the tremella is whitish and translucent, it can reach up to 4 cm in height, and up to 8 cm in diameter. Its surface is shiny and smooth.

Fucus tremella looks like an ice flower

There is no distinct leg in the snow fungus; the fruiting body grows directly from the trunk of the tree. The flesh of the fucus-shaped tremella is as whitish-transparent as the entire fruiting body, and does not have a strong smell or taste.

How and where does ice mushroom grow

Fucus tremella prefers warm, preferably tropical climates. Therefore, on the territory of Our Country, it can only be found in Primorye and in the Sochi region, where average annual temperatures remain quite high.

Since the snow fungus is a parasitic organism, it settles on the trunks of fallen trees and draws juices and minerals from them. In Our Country, you can see it mainly on oak trees. Tremella appears in the middle of summer and bears fruit until mid-September, it can grow both singly and in small groups.

Silver ear grows on deciduous tree trunks

Twins and their differences

The unique external features of the fucus tremella make it almost impossible to confuse it with any other mushrooms. However, in the absence of experience, related species can be mistaken for a snow shaker.

orange shaker

The white and orange tremors are very similar in structure to each other – the fruiting bodies consist of thin petals of a gelatinous consistency. Orange trembling also grows on deciduous trees and prefers regions with warm climates.

As the name implies, the species can be distinguished by color – the orange trembling has a bright yellow-orange or red-orange tint. Sometimes in rainy weather it can discolor, and then it becomes almost impossible to catch the difference.

Brain shaker

Another species that, under certain conditions, can be confused with snow tremella is the brain tremella. The fruit body is a gelatinous gelatinous growth on the bark of a tree. The shape is tuberculate, unevenly spherical, so the shaker resembles a miniature human brain.

Although the brain tremor can also be whitish and almost transparent in color, the shape does not allow one to confuse the fruiting body with a snow fungus. In addition, the brain tremor grows not on deciduous, but on coniferous trees. The fundamental differences turn out to be very useful, given that the brain shaker is not suitable for eating, and it should not be confused with tremella ice mushroom.

Is the mushroom edible or not?

Despite its unusual appearance and texture, the snow fungus is completely edible. It is not recommended to eat it raw, but after processing it can be added to a variety of dishes.

How to cook ice mushrooms

In cooking, the snow shaker is used very widely. It is not only boiled and fried, but also pickled, salted for the winter and dried. Tremella can be added to soups and second courses, it can serve as a good side dish for potatoes, pasta and cereals.

Before any preparation, the silver ear must be processed and prepared. It does not need to be cleaned, since it does not have ordinary legs and a hat. It is enough just to cut off the small roots, with the help of which the tremella receives nutrients, and shake off the remnants of forest debris.

Before cooking, fresh snow shaker must be boiled, or rather, steamed for 10 minutes in hot water. Steaming not only eliminates possible harmful substances in the composition, but also increases the volume – the silver ear swells by about 3 times.

Fucus shaker is actively used in cooking

Ice Mushroom Recipes

You can meet a snow mushroom in the forest not so often, but there are a lot of recipes with it. Basically, heat treatment is practiced, after which it becomes especially tasty.

How to cook fried ice mushrooms

The simplest recipe suggests frying the snow mushroom in a pan with vegetable oil and spices. It is necessary to cut the fresh pulp into small pieces, and then put it in the pan.

The pulp is fried for a short time, only about 7 minutes until a golden hue appears, at the end they salt and pepper to their own taste. It is not necessary to steam the snow mushroom before frying.

Cooking scrambled eggs with ice mushrooms

Fucus-shaped tremella is popular in combination with scrambled eggs. To prepare a dish you need:

• fry 3 eggs in a pan, 100 g of chopped ham and 50 g of hard cheese;
• immediately after curdling the egg white, add 200 g of steamed tremella;
• salt the scrambled eggs to taste and add pepper and your favorite herbs.

Fry the eggs for no more than 10 minutes. The finished dish has an unusual aroma and bright flavors.

Silver ear is often fried with scrambled eggs

How to cook ice mushroom in Korean

Fucus tremella can be used to prepare a delicious and spicy Korean ice mushroom recipe. Necessary:

• steam and rinse about 200 g of snow fungus;
• cut the pulp into small pieces and put in a ceramic container;
• in a separate saucepan, mix 3 large spoons of soy sauce, 1 small spoon of honey and 2 minced garlic cloves;
• add a little ground black pepper, paprika or standard spices for Korean carrots to the mixture to taste;
• heat the mixture until the honey is completely dissolved.

The resulting sweet marinade should be poured over Korean-style ice mushroom and left to marinate under the lid for 4 hours.

Korean-style fucus shaker is very popular

snow mushroom soup recipe

You can add fucus-shaped tremella to a regular vegetable soup – the dish will acquire a pleasant aroma and original taste. The recipe looks like this:

• cut into small cubes 2 potatoes, 1 medium carrot and onion;
• boil the ingredients in 2 liters of water until completely softened;
• finely chopped dried shakers are added to the broth in an amount of 100 g and boiled for another 15 minutes.

The soup should be salted to taste, if desired, greens and a little pepper can be added to it. It is undesirable to digest snow fungus, but with moderate heat treatment, it will delight you with a bright taste and pleasant texture.

You can add a silver ear to soup

How to Pickle White Ice Mushrooms

For winter storage, snow fungus is often pickled. The recipe looks pretty simple:

• 1 kg of fresh shakers are washed, cut into small plates and boiled for 10 minutes in salted water;
• in a separate saucepan, 50 g of sugar and 10 g of salt, pour 30 ml of vinegar and 200 ml of water, add 3 chopped garlic cloves to the marinade;
• mushroom pulp is placed in a jar in a dense layer, a layer of onion, cut into half rings, is placed on top, and so, alternating layers, fill the container completely;
• shaker and onion are poured with cold marinade and put under oppression.

Pickling snow fungus takes only 8 hours, after which it can be consumed.

How to Salt Fucus Shake

Another way is to salt the snow fungus for the winter. They do it very simply:

• for 15 minutes, white shakes are boiled in salt water;
• then the mushrooms are cut into large strips;
• the strips are laid in a small jar, sprinkled liberally with salt.

If desired, pepper, bay leaf and dill can be added to the brine – spices will make the taste of salty trembling more spicy and spicy.

Mushroom silver ear is suitable for pickling and canning

How to preserve silver ears mushrooms for the winter

The conservation recipe suggests keeping the snow fungus for the winter as follows:

• white shakes in the amount of 1 kg are boiled for 15 minutes;
• shortly before readiness, 1 large spoonful of salt, the same amount of sugar and 3 dill umbrellas are added to the pan;
• flavor the ingredients with 5 black peppercorns, 2 clove buds and 3 minced garlic cloves;
• cook for another 10 minutes, and then add 4 large spoons of vinegar and remove from the stove.

White shakes in a hot marinade are poured into sterile jars and tightly rolled up canned food for the winter.

Is it possible to dry and freeze the jellyfish mushroom

It is not recommended to freeze the snow fungus; the fucus tremella reacts poorly to a decrease in temperature. Freezing destroys all the beneficial substances in the composition of the fungus and damages its structure.

But you can dry the fucus tremella. First, it is steamed in the standard way, and then a thin thread is threaded through the fruiting bodies and hung in a dry, ventilated place. You can also dry the tremella in the oven at 50 ° C, while leaving the door open.

It is not advised to freeze the silver ear, but it is allowed to dry the tremella

The benefits and harms of snow mushrooms

The unusual fucus tremella has numerous health benefits. In particular, she:

• increases immune resistance and accelerates regeneration processes in the body;
• improves blood circulation and prevents the development of varicose veins and thrombophlebitis;
• reduces the level of glucose and bad cholesterol in the blood, strengthens blood vessels and improves heart function;
• beneficial effect on the respiratory system;
• regulates digestion and metabolic processes;
• accelerates peristalsis and stimulates bile secretion.

Tremella also has contraindications. These include:

• pregnancy and lactation – any mushroom pulp is dangerous for women in position and nursing mothers;
• children’s age – it is possible to offer a snow mushroom to a child only after 7 years;
• individual intolerance.

Also, you should not use white tremor at the same time as taking blood-thinning medications.

The silver ear has numerous valuable properties.

What is useful in oncology

Valuable properties of fucus tremella are used in the treatment of cancer. It has been proven that white trembling increases the body’s endurance and makes it more resistant to radiation, removes toxic substances from tissues and accelerates recovery processes. Snow fungus is recommended for use after a course of chemotherapy, it helps the body to better cope with the side effects of treatment.

The use of silver mushrooms in cosmetology

The benefits and harms of the ice mushroom also affect the cosmetic field. The mushroom pulp contains many polysaccharides, which are similar in chemical characteristics to hyaluronic acid.

Store-bought and homemade products containing fucus tremella extract have a moisturizing and rejuvenating effect on the skin. Masks and lotions containing tremella help cleanse the face of acne and blackheads, increase the firmness and elasticity of the epidermis, and even out the complexion.

Tremella is also used to create hair masks. Useful substances in the composition of the snow fungus nourish the scalp, prevent the appearance of dandruff.

How to grow ice mushroom at home

Fucus tremella is quite rare, so connoisseurs prefer to grow it at home or in the country. This can be done using a wet hardwood log without rot and flaws:

1. Holes are drilled in a small log no deeper than 4 cm and mycelium purchased in a special store is placed in them.
2. The log is placed in a warm and humid place on the ground, not forgetting to water it 3 times a week.
3. After the appearance of the first rudiments of tremella, the log is immersed in cold water for 1-2 days, and then vertically or obliquely placed in the air or in a bright, warm room.

It is necessary to grow a snow fungus at a temperature not lower than + 25 ° C, regularly moistening the wood or substrate. The first fruiting bodies appear 4-5 months after planting the mycelium. For the winter, the log must be moved to a darkened basement, but the temperature in it should still remain positive.

Interesting facts about snow mushrooms

The fucus tremella mushroom was discovered only about 150 years ago – it was first described in 1856 by the British scientist Michaels Berkeley. But he gained popularity very quickly, for example, in China, the annual harvest of specially grown fruiting bodies is about 130000 tons.

The healing properties of the snow fungus are widely used in oriental folk medicine. Asian healing practitioners use tremella to treat coughs and colds.

Snow mushroom is an expensive delicacy product. Just 50 years ago, it was available only to very rich people, and now sellers can ask for about 1 rubles for 1500 kg of dried shakers.

Fucus shaker is a rather expensive product

Conclusion

Snow mushroom is a very beautiful and useful representative of the mushroom kingdom. Although it is not common in nature, it is actively grown artificially, and therefore there are a lot of culinary recipes using fucus tremella.