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Matsutake/Pine Mushroom

 

Matsutake mushrooms or Tricholoma magnivelare

Matsutake are legendary mushrooms. 

There are only a few mushrooms that are so highly regarded in a specific culture as these are, with the exception of morels in the U.S., and the rovellon/niscalo (saffron milk cap+friends) in Spain. For the most part, the matsutake is known as an Asian or a Japanese mushroom in my mind, although they do grow in other places too. Japanes use of matsies is the most well documented though, so I think it’s useful to look at their history as a starting point for learing about them, and from there, recipe inspiration. If you poke around online, there’s plenty of stories about Japanese love for these mushrooms as a symbol of autumn and longevity, along with haiku poems and plenty of ceremony. For over 1000 years, the Japanese have waxed poetic about matsutake.

Matsutake mushroom from Minnesota

In order to find matsutake, you’re going to need to have coniferous forests.

I’ve talked about the fanaticism of Eastern European families who hunt mushrooms, but in Japan, matsutake are actually boxed up individually and sold as gifts. I’ve never heard of that happening with another mushroom. 

The book Mychophilia by Eugenia Bone has some interesting information:

“In 1992, the New York Times reported that Japanese businessmen spent as much as 240$ American for a box of three or four mushrooms”

“In 2007, The North Korean leader Kim Jong II gave President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea 500 such boxes equaling 4 tons of matsutake mushrooms prior to a summit meeting.”

Matsutake mushroom ramen recipe

Matsutake make excellent ramen.

Hunting matsutake mushrooms in pine plantations

Where I live, this is what you’re looking for in matsutake season. Pure red pine stands.

Apparently, Japanese harvest of Matutake has been steadily declining, possibly due to problems with their environment and habitat. To meet the demand for them, other sources of matsutake have been uncovered in China, Korea, Sweden, Mexico, and of course, the American Pacific Northwest.

Before they began to be harvested from China and Korea and the market began to get saturated (they are still very expensive) their price could be as much as 17-53/lb wholesale in Japan, with indigenous Japanese specimens typically fetching around twice as much. (Some say they are the same mushroom, but American Matsutake are differentiated by the name Tricholoma Magnivelare, whereas Japanese are known as Tricholoma Matsutake)

As with many things that cost a lot of money, matsutake have developed a bit of a reputation for being coveted. Commercial pickers scour our national forests in the Pacific Northwest each year in the fall looking for them, and matsutake patches are closely held secrets. There are numerous reports of people hiding out on trails robbing commercial pickers at gunpoint, and other, much scarier tales.

From Mycophilia:

“Stories about matsutake related violence in national forests (one man shot through the heart, his mushrooms missing; five dead in a prime matsutake patch, etc.) Have receded into legend.”

Other related, juicy articles:  L.A. Times   Travel & Outdoors

 
Matsutake mushrooms from Minnesota of varying size

Small matsutake are the most prized.

So whats the big deal?

It is all about the aroma and flavor. I have cooked many different species of mushrooms, but as far as strange flavors go, the matsutake takes the cake. In fact, it’s flavor is so strange that it is hard to even describe. It’s truly one of nature’s most incredible flavors/aromas.

It’s been said they’re cinnamon like, piney, woodsy, like rotten earth, or even fishy. David Arora describes it like smelling a combination of red hots and dirty socks. Their flavor is so strange that I have served them to people that love mushrooms, and flat out do not like matsutake. Personally, I think they taste like the essence of pine soil, with a little spice thrown in. 

 

Look A Likes

Tricholoma caligatum the false matsutake

False Matsutake: Tricholoma caligatum. While they share a color pattern, these aren’t as robust as matsutake, have an inferior flavor, and grow with deciduous trees.

Tricholoma caligatum

The most common mastie look a like is Tricholoma caligatum. You can tell T. caligatum from a true matsutake easily as they don’t have a strong pine aroma, they may taste bitter, and, most importantly, they’re hardwood associates, so you’ll never see them growing near red pine, jack pine, or other matsutake hosts.

Cathelasma imperiale

 I haven’t seen that one yet, and it’s said to be quite rare, possibly more rare than Matsutake themselves. It grows with conifers. 

Age and Grade 

These are often sold by wholesalers under number a classification, 1, 2, 3 etc, 1’s being the youngest, with the veil unbroken. All you need to know is that number 1’s will have the most potent flavor, after the mushroom has broken the veil and started to mature and get large, the flavor leaves, quickly.

Matsutake mushrooms from Minnesota

Note the difference in size. The small buttons are what you want, but if you get large ones without bug damage–take’m, they’re matsutake for crying out loud 🙂

Midwestern Matsutake

Matsutake indeed grow in the Midwest, but those places are few and far between. If you meet someone who knows where Midwest matsutake grow, rest assured locations of these are the sort of things only traded for large sums of money, and, other, um, sorts of transactions. If you want to find them yourself, take a look at my post: Hunting the Midwestern Matsutake: II. 

Raw matsutake mushrooms with acorn oil and kinome

Matsutake are one of the few mushrooms you can serve raw, and they’re excellent like that. Pictured with kinome leaves, salt, and acorn oil.

Cooking

Things get really interesting with these in the kitchen. The flavor of matsutake is pretty connected to Japanese food and flavors, they seem like they were born to be together. Like many other foods though, it won’t do to cook them in a pan with a bunch of other stuff, their flavor will be lost entirely. First off though, you need to clean them, and this is easier said than done.

What happens is that unless you are picking them yourself, they’ve probably been sitting in a box or in a grocery store for a while. As the mushrooms sit, they tend to dry out, which makes the sand and dirt stick to their flesh, making it very difficult to remove. To clean matsutake, I like to peel them with a vegetable peeler, reserving their trim for the making of powerful stocks and broths. Here’s the big takeaways with these. Pay close attention to the first one regarding dairy. 

  • Hold the dairy—all of it. No butter, cream or cheese should be served with Matsutake. 
  • The aroma of matsutake is powerful, make darn sure to save your trim from the stems and caps. 
  • Cooking matsutake on high heat in a saute pan will make their aroma waft into the air, which is a nice thing to keep in mind if you want to say, add some to a soup, instead of boiling them (which is fine) you can kiss them in a hot pan for a bit and spoon them in. 
  • Matsutake have a natural affinity for fish and seafood.
  • Matsutake do not have to be cooked through. Try grilling them “medium rare” as I share in my post here.
  • Try eating them raw for a real treat, drizzled with good tasting oil (especially nut or seed oil) and sprinkled with a pinch of salt.

Recipes

As a rule Matsutake *generally* shouldn’t be used interchangeably with other mushrooms in recipes since their flavor is very different. Here’s some recipes I’ve made for them, or where they could be substituted successfully. 

  • Miso Soup with Matsutake 
  • Matsutake Fried Rice 
  • Raw Matsutake
  • Wild Mushroom Duxelles-substitute sake for the sherry in this recipe
  • Matsutake Ramen
  • Buckwheat Sole With Wild Mushrooms and Carrot Ribbons
  • Pickled Wild Mushrooms-use Asian inspired flavors for your pickling seasonings (ginger, star anise) and rice wine vinegar 
  • Matsutake Baked in Parchment 

More Matsutake 

Matsutake mushrooms Tricholoma murrillianum from Washington

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. J. Michael

    October 22, 2016 at 5:40 pm

    I am a matsutake newcomer who has had a very good year collecting this year. I’m curious about your recommendation that they not be cooked with cheeses or cream. Two of my favorite recipes are to put them in a goats milk and cheese quiche, and in a savory goat bread pudding. Their flavor is so strong I’m mixing them 1 part to 2 parts milder mushroom.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      October 31, 2016 at 4:36 pm

      Hi J, if you like them with cheese or cream, more power to you. Personal preference.

      Reply
  2. Dalanea Hackett

    December 10, 2017 at 7:45 pm

    Have you tried drying the matsutake and if so is there a way of drying them so they remain White or as white as possible. The buyers here say that the only way they’ll take them dried is if they are white. Tried several times I’ve gotten them golden but not white. Any suggestions on how to accomplish this.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      December 13, 2017 at 12:19 pm

      Hmm, I have dried them, but I’m not sure why anyone would insist on only buying them dried if the color is white, that seems odd to me for some reason, but then again, the vagaries of matsutake purchasing traditions in Asia I’m only casually familiar with. That being said, if I want to keep the color of certain mushrooms, I’ve found that acidic compounds tends to keep colors after cooking, but my experiments have only been with very vibrant mushrooms, like Lactifluus indigo. Maybe you could try dunking them in water seasoned with citric acid, vinegar, or citrus juice, sorry I can’t be of more help on this.

      Reply
  3. nisga'a picker

    August 21, 2019 at 11:15 pm

    shave or peel off the outsides and gills then use food dehydrator

    Reply
  4. Ruth Peddinghaus

    September 20, 2019 at 5:35 pm

    Just picked 15 lbs. in the great Northwest!
    So excited! Had to pay $20.00 For a 4 day permit. I’m going out again tomorrow. Can’t wait to pare it with my home made Miso.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      September 21, 2019 at 12:20 pm

      My Favorite mushroom. Congratulations!

      Reply
  5. Betsy Smith

    October 7, 2019 at 11:08 am

    I just found my first matsutake here in Vermont, you mentioned in one of your comments that you dehydrate them. Do you recommend it? I would hate to loose these guys to a failed effort to keep them. Also, what about saute and freeze?
    Thanks!
    Betsy

    Reply
  6. Ella

    November 5, 2019 at 1:00 pm

    You say how other people describe their aroma. How do you describe it?

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      November 9, 2019 at 3:03 pm

      Like the essence of pine soil. It’s almost like it abosorbs resinous compounds from the substrate. Mushroomy, but piney as well. The smell is pretty striking.

      Reply
  7. Craig W

    July 30, 2020 at 12:13 pm

    Greetings. I feel like I may have found many in stage 1 in near Pine County. But given how young and my inexperience, I lack the confidence. The web appears to have information on lookalikes and the results could be grim. My plan is dehydrate some now and track the others to see if I can better ID them. If you have any advice or would like to see pictures, feel free to contact.

    Finally, enjoyed your presentation (and eats) this past January at the Lake Superior Mycological club.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      August 1, 2020 at 8:39 am

      It would be very, very early for them, but I can take a look at some images. I’ll shoot you a message.

      Reply
  8. Martijn Van Boxtel

    August 28, 2020 at 2:12 pm

    How best to preserve the matsutake? Is it better to freeze them of dry them?

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      August 28, 2020 at 8:01 pm

      Sweat in a little oil, vacuum seal, and freeze.

      Reply
  9. F SUN

    February 17, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    5 stars
    Hi, I just bought a package of Dried Matsutake. Never had them before, so goggled and found your site. Any recommendation on how to use them ? The package just says to rinise them in running water to remove debris; then to reconstitute, soak in warm water for 30-60 minutes. I was planning to use them in chicken or pork (neck bone) soup with lots of veggie. Not sure if that is a good ideal after reading your post here.

    Thanks very much.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      February 18, 2021 at 7:22 am

      Don’t put them in vegetable soup, you won’t taste them at all. Dried matsutake are nothing like their fresh form, but for the best flavor, and to do them honor, you’ll want to use them in something very simple. See my miso soup for an example, also cooking the mushrooms into dashi and then chopping up fine, and using the liquid to cook rice like matsutake gohan could be nice. Hope that helps. Alan

      Reply
      • F SUN

        February 18, 2021 at 10:53 am

        Thanks Alan. Glad I asked and you have now given me a different direction to expirment. Will definitely try the miso soup which I just started doing recently as well. Also, using the broth to cook rice sounds interesting; mix my own multi-grain mix, this should be interesting. Thanks and take care.

        Reply

Trackbacks

  1. What is celtuce or stem lettuce, and how to cook it? says:
    November 14, 2014 at 4:17 pm

    […] a giant mix of anything would be a waste in my opinion. The taste of celtuce is strong, but, like matsutake, it can also be overpowered easily by too many ingredients, simple preparations like the following […]

    Reply
  2. Fried Chicken Mushrooms, Lyophyllum Decastes says:
    January 17, 2015 at 12:18 am

    […] praising their aroma or flavor, like you will their cousins in the greater Tricholoma family: Matsutake and Honey […]

    Reply
  3. - Real Food To Heal says:
    October 1, 2020 at 9:36 pm

    […] cherished they are for great taste. Unlike other mushrooms, they take a little longer to clean. Clean them with a damp cloth; otherwise, if they take too much water, they will become heavy and too wet, […]

    Reply
  4. Why Matsutake Mushrooms Are Good For You: Everything You Need To Know | Real Food To Heal says:
    October 18, 2020 at 11:23 pm

    […] cherished they are for great taste. Unlike other mushrooms, they take a little longer to clean. Clean them with a damp cloth; otherwise, if they take too much water, they will become heavy and too wet, […]

    Reply
  5. Why Matsutake Mushrooms Are Good For You: Everything You Need To Know - Real Food To Heal says:
    November 27, 2020 at 3:41 pm

    […] cherished they are for great taste. Unlike other mushrooms, they take a little longer to clean. Clean them with a damp cloth; otherwise, if they take too much water, they will become heavy and too wet, […]

    Reply

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