fungus · The Trophy Room
Chicken of the Woods
The shelf fungus that actually tastes like its name. This is the conifer chicken of the woods, growing in overlapping orange-and-cream brackets on dead and dying conifers. A young flush, sautéed, has the texture and pull of chicken breast — one of the few wild mushrooms that converts skeptics on the first bite.
Identifying
- overlapping fan-shaped brackets, orange on top, fading to pale yellow-cream at the edge
- pore surface underneath (no gills), pale yellow
- grows in shelving clusters on conifer wood — trunks, stumps, roots
- young growing edges are soft and moist; old ones go chalky and bitter
Facts
- take only the tender young edges — the older interior turns woody and sour
- caution with the conifer species: L. conifericola causes stomach upset in a minority of people even cooked, and raw is a bad idea for anyone — cook it thoroughly and try a small amount your first time
- no gilled lookalike to worry about; a bright orange shelf with pores on conifer wood is hard to mistake
