Today for lunch we had Cordyceps militaris, which was quite tasty and added nice color and texture to the dish with its chanterelle-like yellow. The 5 to 12 cm long fruiting bodies come in long strands and are easy to use. In the past this cultivated medicinal fungus was quite costly. However, it was never as expensive as Ophiocordyceps sinensis, which still no one has figured out how to grow in order that it will produce fruiting bodies.
Well, this bit was written 6 weeks ago, and we took some of the fresh Cordyceps militariswith us to Lhasa where we enjoyed Cordyceps Pizza at the Kyichu hotel. The staff there is already used to me bringing in exotic mushrooms. Last year I found some Sulfur Shelf in Kongpo (Laetiporus sulpherus var. miniatus) and asked the cook to prepare it for our MushRoaming tour group. We also have been enjoying the Shaggy manes (Coprinus comatus) several times in past years that grow in the hotel's beautiful yard.
Cordyceps militaris on a garlic & onion Pizza with some Lhasa beer, it does not get much better!