Enokitake / Velvet Shank Mushroom: ID, Cooking, Recipes, Uses

A popular cultivated Japanese mushroom variety, enokitake (Flammulina velutipes and others) are a common edible wild mushroom found across North America. In this post I'll tell you everything you need to know about them.

They were first named by an English Botanist named William Curtis in 1782 as Agaricus velutipes. We now know there's many closely related varieties around the world, such as F. mexicana, and F. finlandica.

Eytmology

The name is borrowed from 榎 茸. The first character (enoki) is the Chinese hackberry tree on which they can grow. The second (take) means mushroom.

Wild Enoki vs Cultivated

Wild enoki are genetically the same as the long, thin white mushrooms you'll see in a grocery store, but, if the mushrooms are grown without sunlight they'll be white.

Cultivated enoki exposed to light are known as "golden needle mushrooms". They combine the long shape of cultivated mushrooms with the yellowish brown color of wild.

Enoki Mushroom Identification

• Stems turn dark brown toward the base.
• A rubbery, sticky (viscid), orange-brown or reddish colored cap.
• The stems develop a velvet covering as they grow, hence the names velvet stem and velvet foot.
• Enoki always grow from wood, including buried logs.
• White spore print.
• Stems: ~ 2-11 cm long and 3-10 mm thick.

Where and When to Find

These are a common winter mushroom in the Northern Hemisphere. In Minnesota and Wisconsin I've seen them while the snow is still on the ground. They can freeze at night and thaw in the day.

They typically fruit early Spring through Fall. They're saprobic decomposers of hardwoods, so you'll see them growing on stumps, roots, and injured trees.

I see these growing on dying elm trees, as well as willow. They can also grow on poplar, quaking aspen, maple and birch. The thick clusters of fresh mushrooms are easy to see.

Growing Enokitake Mushrooms

You can grow enoki mushrooms at home. My friend, mushroom cultivator Drew Zimmerman recommends buying enoki spores to inoculate a mushroom grow bag. He's grown them outdoors in the Winter, as well as in his refrigerator.

Regarding grow bags, he says: "The high Co2 environment creates the small caps and long stems you want with cultivation of this mushroom".

Image Credits: Unkle Fungus.

Look Alikes

To pick wild enoki you must be able to identify Galerina marginata, the Funeral Bell. While it probably isn't lethally poisonous (despite what mushroom guides say) you don't want to eat it.

G. marginata is a poisonous mushroom that grows on hardwoods and conifers. I usually see these in the Spring and Fall, but they can be found year round. They have a brown spore print, and a ring around the stem which enoki never have.

How to Cook Enokitake Mushroms

Well known in East Asian cuisine, these are a great soup mushroom but are also good in salads and other dishes.

Ramen with enoki mushrooms.

They keep a crisp texture, and get slippery after cooking in broth: a characteristic many appreciate. Whole clusters can be cooked too, as with enoki beef rolls. Save extra stems for making enoki cakes.

Enoki Uses and Benefits

Enoki are nutritious (link below). Their use in TCM could also offer insight into medicinal uses. According to the NIH:

"Research on F. velutipes has clearly shown it possesses various pharmacological properties including anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory properties, demonstrating that F. velutipes has great potential for successful bioprospecting."

References

• Golden Needle Mushroom: A Culinary Medicine with Evidenced-Based Biological Activities and Health Promoting Properties
• Enokitake Nutrition Facts
• Mushroom Expert