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Foraging and Cooking Mushrooms, Wild and Obscure Food

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Crown-Tipped Coral Mushrooms

clavacorona pyyxidata coral mushroom

Crown tipped coral mushrooms Artomyces pyxidatus, formerly Clavicorona pyxidatus.

Crown-tipped coral mushrooms are always a welcome sight, pound for pound they have an excellent yield, as well as the bonus of looking like an life form from under the sea.

These are a favorite of mine for special menus and chef’s tables since they rarely fruit in large quantities where I live. On occasion, I find enough to garnish a nice meal with them. These can be a confusing batch of species-keep a field guide handy.

clavacorona pyyxidata coral mushroom

Clavacorona pyyxidata, the crown tipped coral is much more delicate than ramaria species, although they look somewhat similar.

Identification Tips

As far as corals-type mushrooms go these are easy to identify. The biggest takeaways, at least for me, are the following:

  • Crown-tipped corals grow *directly* from wood, not on the ground, although it could be possible to confuse some as growing terrestrially if they are coming from a buried log.
  • Crown-tipped corals are looser in structure than ramaria, and much more delicate.
  • Crown-tipped corals are always white, or a shade of dingy white due to age. The base of the mushroom where they attach to the wood will be brown.
  • Ramaria mushrooms grow directly from the ground, and come in a variety of colors. Compare the two pictures below a few times, the differences are easy to pick out.
Crown-tipped corals Artomyces pyxidatus
True crown tipped coral mushroom. Growing directly from wood, and with a pure white color.
a ramaria mushroom
Ramaria, or a true coral, note that it is growing on the ground, and has a bright yellow color.
a ramaria mushroom
Another ramaria (not a crown tipped coral) note the pronounced base. This was growing directly from the ground.

Look a Likes

There are other mushrooms that are not good that could be confused with these. My advice is:

  • Don’t pick any that have a scent of Phenol (embalming fluid) or smell bad in general.
  • Don’t pick any that have a gelatinous or liquidy/slimy base.
  • Don’t pick any corals that are colored deep red. (I’ve been informed of a deadly Japanese coral that’s red)
Ramaria botrytis, an edible wild coral mushroom_

Ramaria botrytis, a different type of coral mushroom in the Ramaria family. Note the firm structure compared to the crown tipped corals.

Habitat

Where I live they grow only on dead and dying wood like oak. Crown tipped corals will not grow directly on the ground, like Ramarias. I see them in the early and late summer in Minnesota.

Cooking

First of all, these are ok to eat,  but honestly they’re not going to blow your mind.

Crown tipped corals cook really, really fast, and can be a pain to clean since debris and dirt can get lodged in them. To clean large amounts of them I like to break them into small clusters and swish them quickly in cold water. After their light bath, I set them on a cloth or towel to dry in the fridge.

With crown tipped corals at the restaurant, I like to pour boiling salted broth over them, leave let them cool in it, and then simply pick out individual clusters to drop into a soup as a garnish at the very last minute. Its also a lot of fun to serve them with seafood and freshwater fish, to get a sort of , “sea” and fish combination/play on ingredients.

Cooking in Soup or Broth 

Cooking in soup or broth is one of the best ways to prepare these, just like I recommend doing with yellowfoot mushrooms, or Craterellus tubaeformis and their cousins. Cooked in a liquid, these will retain a little more color and texture.

Crispy fried coral mushrooms, with chive aioli

Crown corals make a fun, crispy garnish.

Preservation

These do not dry well, the smell changes a bit and gets kind of “gym-sockey”, from my experience. If you want to pickle them I would make sure to separate them into large clusters.

Recipes

Recipes for crown corals, or where they can be substituted easily.

  • Wild Mushroom Conserve
  • Wild Mushrooms With Garlic And Parsley
  • Wild Mushrooms With Breadcrumbs, Garlic, And Chili
  • Crispy Fried Crown Coral Mushrooms, Chive Aioli
  • Seared Tenderloins with Hericiums and King Crab
  • Coral Mushroom Soup With Milkweed Shoots and Truffle Cured Egg

Pickled Crown Coral Mushrooms

A quick and basic pickle method to which other seasonings may easily be added. The trick is to make sure you have extremely young, tight clusters of coral mushrooms, otherwise they could fall apart or be very flimsy.

 Yield: 6 1/2 pint jars

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 lbs Coral mushrooms, the younger and more firm the better
  • 4 cups water
  • 1/2 cup champagne or white vinegar
  • 2 cloves of garlic, whacked with the back of a knife
  • a dried chilli or two for heat, depending on how hot you like things
  • a sprig or two of an herb, thyme or savory would be great

Method

  1. Separate the coral mushrooms into clusters about the size of golf balls.
  2. Next wash your coral mushrooms in cool water and clean them to remove any clinging dirt or debris.
  3. Heat the water, salt, vinegar, chillis, garlic, and herbs in a pasta pot or another wide pan until the salt is dissolves and the mixture has come to a boil, then turn off the heat and leave the mixture to infuse for 5 minutes.
  4. Remove the herbs and garlic and taste the mixture, if you want to, add more garlic or another chilli or two to make it more spicy, etc.
  5. When the pickling liquid tastes like you want, add the coral mushrooms and stir, they will wilt very quickly.
  6. When the mushrooms are wilted, use a pair of tongs, or a hand held strainer to remove the mushrooms and place them in 1/2 pint canning jars
  7. fill the jars with mushrooms and their pickling liquid, leaving 1/2 inch of head room at the top of each jar to prevent them exploding.
  8. Process the jars of pickled coral mushrooms in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.
Previous Post: « The Velvet-foot Mushroom / Enokitake
Next Post: Turkey Hunter’s Morel Rillettes »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Patricia A

    August 31, 2013 at 10:18 am

    Delighted to find your site and see someone doing innovative things with these gorgeous fungi! I just located a wealth of Crowned Coral yesterday and, while I will be eating it in various ways ‘fresh’ was also hoping to preserve some for winter. You briefly mention pickling these – which I agree – would look spectacular – but, I couldn’t find a recipe…. Any details of this you might share? Vinegar types? Additions? Processing time? Really appreciate any insights you have to offer.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      September 2, 2013 at 5:18 pm

      Patricia, I put a recipe up for you.

      Reply
  2. Patricia A

    October 18, 2013 at 6:28 pm

    Alan – just wanted to say a belated thank you for the recipe! It worked perfectly – and I am delighted to have been able to add this gorgeous little ‘shroom to my ‘winter cupboard’…. Much appreciate your artistry and generosity in sharing.

    Reply
  3. Amanda

    September 13, 2015 at 12:01 pm

    Thanks so much for sharing your recipe! I canned some last week and my family loves them. The only thing I did differently is leave the spices and garlic in and it turned out wonderfully. We found 2-3 pounds more yesterday so guess what I’m doing tonight. 🙂 Love it!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      September 15, 2015 at 12:36 pm

      Glad you enjoyed them, are you pickling Ramaria species or Clavicorona?

      Reply
  4. Elizabeth

    October 1, 2015 at 1:45 pm

    July 2015 was the summer of my joyous introduction to the illusive Crown Coral Mushroom! A prior such moment was in the Spring of 1961, when I had the wonderful opportunity to meet the Moral. An aside: I was presented a large quantity of fresh-picked morels and, after soaking them in a saltwater bath to remove any riders (critters), I fried them in a 12″ iron skillet with a stick of salted butter. Forthwith, I took my new-found treasure to the kitchen table and consumed the entire skillet-full. Three days later, a visiting neighbor remarked, “Oh, you’re back!” Turns out, I had consumed enough of the Hallucinogenic properties present in all mushrooms to varying degrees was to put me in an altered state – nothing serious, mind you. After that, I reduced the quantity and, to this day, enjoy the Morel!

    Now, back to the topic at hand – the Crown Coral! The Mushrooms first gathered were like unearthing a treasure. I was delighted to discover they were responding well to the same preparation as the Morels. A few days later, I went to the same spot on the UP Michigan spot; and, lo, there was new growth. Over the next months, I gathered more wondering when the season would end. Finally, in mid-September, fearing I might not find any more after that day, I decided to preserve this possible last batch. Now, I had always dried Morels; but, instinctively, I knew not to dry these Crown Corals. Instead, after cleaning them, after their salt bath and the removal of the last vestiges of foreign matter, I drained them overnight in a colander. Next, I placed them on a kitchen towel to further evaporate the water. Then, when still moist, I placed them in freezer bags. This was a successful way of preservation, as the mushrooms maintained their integrity! Now, after checking this site and reading that pickling was the only mentioned method, I hope to introduce freezing as a method, as well. I personally could not see pickling them. But, I am game to taste them pickled.
    Happy foraging!
    Elizabeth

    Reply
    • Paul

      August 21, 2016 at 3:10 pm

      Morels do not cause hallucinations, regardless of the amount eaten. If they do you were eating false morels, not a good idea.

      Reply
  5. Lyndsay Black

    September 29, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    Hello,

    I just found an entire acre of these mushrooms. Literally thousands. I can’t eat mushrooms, but would love to sell them. Any tips?

    Ty
    Lindsay

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      December 6, 2016 at 9:34 am

      Contact restaurants and make friends with the chefs, give them the best stuff you can find, 10$ for mushrooms should get your foot in the door.

      Reply
  6. Terry Osborne

    October 4, 2016 at 8:50 am

    Hello I’m looking for the current prices for the crown tipped coral mushrooms. Can you point me to a site that keeps up with mushroom prices.? Thank you

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      December 6, 2016 at 9:29 am

      I’d sell for 10$ lb they’re not that special as far as selling goes.

      Reply
  7. davidf

    September 30, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    like to know how to definitively identify if this is what I found

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      October 1, 2018 at 2:12 pm

      These are easy to identify. Re-read the post, or google mushroom expert and check Micheal Kuo’s description. Also make sure you’re using field guides to cross reference information.

      Reply
      • John J. Williamson

        January 18, 2021 at 1:28 pm

        5 stars
        I used your crispy fried coral recipe on some wrinkled club that is plentiful here in the UK. really good and the batter helps keep the fragile flesh together. Perfect

        Reply
        • Alan Bergo

          January 18, 2021 at 3:04 pm

          Thanks John. I enjoy Clavaradelphis pistillaris here in the states.

          Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Forager|Chef – Channeling Michel Bras: The Little Gargouillou says:
    September 10, 2013 at 11:40 am

    […] See recipe method HERE […]

    Reply
  2. Coral mushroom woup with white lentils, milkweed leaves, poached duck egg and cured duck egg yolk says:
    July 4, 2014 at 1:51 pm

    […] there is one mushroom that comes up with abandon, and that’s the crown coral or Clavicorona pyxidata, These are similar to other coral mushrooms, but are more flimsy, and don’t grow directly from […]

    Reply
  3. pitchin’ tents, and gettin’ wood… | Post World Patriot says:
    May 29, 2016 at 5:18 pm

    […] In the early afternoon we went out shroom hunting with his uncle and brought back a bucket full of coral  mushrooms. But the day wasn’t over yet, we loaded up the shotguns and headed into the woods, determined […]

    Reply

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