Beogre you go all gung-ho and head out for the hills to go mushroom hunting, bear these figures in mind. Although there are apparently over 2000 varieties of mushrooms in the Korean peninsular, most are inedible or poisonous. Fewer than 20 kinds are cultivated commercially. More disquieting is the fact that, there has been a 60% decline in mushroom harvests over the last decade. In 2009, only 100 tonnes of songi mushrooms were collected.
Their increasing rarity has ensured that their nicknames such as “golden mushrooms” and “diamonds of the forest” are well-deserved. Once plucked, the mushroom doesn’t grow again; it can’t be cultivated and it’s particularly sensitive to environmental changes. Among South Korea’s most expensive natural products, songi mushrooms have almost become so endangered that you need to be certified to harvest them and even then, each harvester may only be allowed to remove one mushroom.
The best quality pine mushrooms can fetch princely prices of 800,000 won per kilogram ( about $670). Hence Kim Jong-il’s gift of 4 tons of songi beoseot to Roh Moo-hyun during one summit visit in the past was not something to be sniffed at metaphorically. In Japan, these mushrooms known there as matsutake were the exclusive privilege of the royalty until the 17th century. These days, they are still coveted corporate gifts during Chuseok celebrations.
But certainly, the whole point of enjoying songi mushrooms is to relish its wonderful scent. Its aroma has been described as a “distinctive cinnamony pine smell” and people have praised its “delicate woodsy taste”. It also contains less moisture compared to other species so it can be stored much longer.
But that’s just the least of its virtues. Pine mushrooms have more vitamin B2 than other species; they make excellent low-calorie foods and they are rich in fibre and minerals. According to the Korean Donguibogam (Treasure Book Of Eastern Medicine), wild pine mushrooms “are known to be the greatest among all mushrooms because it has the pine tree’s vigours and delicious fragrances with no content of poisons”.
More recently, researchers have found that the pine mushrooms can lower cholestrol, and help to improve blood circulation. They can also be used to treat hypertension, colitis and even cancer. “In 1996, researchers at the National Cancer Center Research Institute of Japan found that polysaccharide extracts of matsutake drastically slow down tumor growth in guinea pigs.” It’s also been touted as an aphrodisiac but I’m more interested in the claim that it can help to tighten wrinkles and get rid of facial spots caused by exposure to the sun.
WARNING:
NEVER go mushroom hunting without a expert to guide you on what's OK to eat. It's not so easy to differentiate edible fungi from the poisonous ones!
More on songi mushrooms in the next posting.
sources:
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2010/7/27/lifeliving/6406310&sec=lifeliving
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=697207
http://eng.yangyang.go.kr/page/foreign/eng/index.jsp
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2010/06/144_65111.html
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2010/05/146_53193.html
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=293158
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsutake
http://10magazine.asia/7124/a-taste-of-korea-songi-beoseot/
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2010/05/144_51633.html
http://www.sporelab.com/pine.html
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?gotoPage=1&cid=861566
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2092853
www.korea.net/news/news/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20071005009...
http://teachmekorea.blogspot.com/2007/09/mushrooms-and-trekking.html
http://www.ecplaza.net/ecmarket/imageview.asp?imageUrl=http://image.ecplaza.com/offer/c/chunho211/5216705.jpg
http://www.tradekorea.com/product-detail/P00156398/Two_Way_Cake.html
