Chicken of the woods (Laetiporus Murill) is a mushroom resembling chicken as its name suggests. This mushroom comes out in spring and with its distinctive look is virtually impossible to mix up with any other mushroom. It grows on dying or dead trees.
Nuggets made of this mushroom are very hard to distinguish from real chicken!
The mushroom should be harvested when young before the bottom side developed many pores. If the mushroom is too old the taste can become acidic and the structure too hard. At that stage, the mushroom can still be used to dry out and grind into mushroom flour.
When you try this mushroom for the first time be sure to consume only a moderate amount since it has been reported that some people have some mild adverse reactions such as swollen lips or nausea.
Its also best to avoid picking this mushroom from a yew (Taxus baccata) tree as there could be pieces of this highly toxic tree stuck to the mushroom that could make you ill.
Chicken of the woods nuggets
Equipment
- 1 Cutting knife
- 1 cutting board
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Frying pan
Ingredients
- 500 grams Chicken of the woods
- 70 grams panko breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp mustard powder
- 1/2 tbsp pepper
- 1/2 tbsp msg
- 3 tbsp flour Enough for dusting the chicken
- oil For frying
Instructions
- Wash the chicken of the woods and remove any hard parts or parts of woods that might still be attached to the mushroom.
- Cut the mushroom in bite sized chunks.
- Put the panko and seasonings in a bowl and mix well.
- Crack two eggs in a bowl and mix well.
- Coat the mushroom pieces with flour.
- Dredge the mushroom pieces in batches in the egg mixture.
- Coat the dredged mushroom pieces in batches with the panko mixture.
- Put the coated pieces on a cutting board ready to fry.
- Fry the mushroom nuggets in batches on both sides in a pan with a generous amount of oil until golden brown and serve.
