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Kevster

Chicken of the Woods - colour when cooked

Hi all
I was hoping that someone could help me with an identification. The following picture is of a fungus I saw last year and I thought was Chicken of the Woods. It has a soft texture and mushroomy smell, cuts very easily at the edges and the flesh tears with the appearance of the soft fibres of chicken breast. It was on an oak . It has come back this year on the same tree. It is current smaller than in the picture with a cleaner yellow/orange colour at the moment. The only thing that concerns me is that when I tried cooking some it turned a brown colour (dry fried as I'm on a diet), whereas the pictures of cooked Chicken of the woods that I see online seem to retain their orange/yellow appearance.
any help greatly appreciated
Kev
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l157/kevster2/25072008013.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l157/kevster2/25072008014.jpg
cab

Is that maybe a giant polypore, Meripilus giganteus?

I've eaten it when young; its okay cooked but when older its horribly fibrous and bitter. Turns the food its cooked in dark brown, even black.
Kevster

Ahhh...yes. That looks more like it. Shame.....as there seems to be lots of it growing near us. There is one shown here http://grzyby.nazwa.pl/atlas/v/M/Meripilus/Meripilus+giganteus/02_.jpg.html?g2_navId=xbc2c42e0 and it looks just the same

I'll have to make do with the dozens of giant parasols growing there instead Rolling Eyes
Thanks
Kev
Minamoo

The giant polypore is one of my all time favourite wild mushrooms. I love that super mushroomy taste and it makes such fantastic stroganoff and risotto. I just chopped off the bits that my foraging knife passed through easily and left the rest. What I couldn't finish I dried then ground up to make a mushroom seasoning powder that I then add to other mushroom dishes to get a richer flavour. I would suggest you go for it and see what you think of it. Smile
bingo

I eat it when young, it's O.K.
AnnaD

I found giant polypore a couple of years ago, but wasn't sure what it was. I had thought it was chicken of the woods, but I realised it wasn't when the colour of the fungi changed once picked. It's good to know that it is in fact edible.
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