Chicken of the Woods
Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) is a beautiful and delicious wild mushroom, usually found on dead oak logs. This one was on an old log in our front yard. Interestingly, the same log gave us one of these mushrooms about five years ago.
Harvested Chicken of the Woods
Over 2 ½ pounds of delicious “meat”! We could have let it get larger, they can grow to be huge, but I noticed a little bit of insect damage, and the squirrels, who like to get into our shiitake logs, would soon find this one, so we cut it off the log yesterday.
We prepared some last night, sautéed with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. It was, as we expected, absolutely delicious.
Is this like the lions mane mushroom ? I was told you can’t tell it from crab meat and just as good in casseroles.
Chicken of the Woods is a totally different mushroom than lion’s mane. Lion’s mane looks like a big clump of thick hair. It is also considered a great meat (seafood) substitute. Lion’s mane is grown commercially and can often be found in markets. Chicken of the woods can be grown from spawn, but its’ usually not found in the market, unless it’s foraged.