Snow mushroom (Ice, Silver, Tremella fuciformis, Tremella fuciformis): what it is, how it looks, where and how it grows, edible or not

Snow mushroom is a rare but very tasty mushroom from the Tremell family. Of interest is not only the unusual appearance of the fruit bodies, but also the taste, as well as properties beneficial to the body.

What is this ice mushroom and what does it look like

The ice mushroom is known by many names - snow, silver, jellyfish mushroom, white or fusiform shiver, silver or snow ear, fucus tremella. A photo of a snow mushroom demonstrates that in appearance it resembles a kind of ice flower, translucent and very beautiful.

The photo of the ice mushroom shows that its fruiting body is elastic and elastic, similar to gelatin, but at the same time quite firm. The color of the tremella is whitish and translucent, it can reach up to 4 cm in height and up to 8 cm in diameter. Its surface is shiny and smooth.

Fucus tremella looks like an ice flower.

The snow fungus does not have a well-defined leg, the fruit body grows directly from the tree trunk. The pulp of the fucus-shaped tremella is as whitish-transparent as the entire fruiting body, and does not have a strong smell or taste.

How and where does the ice mushroom grow

Fucus tremella prefers a warm, preferably tropical climate. Therefore, on the territory of Russia, it can be found only in Primorye and in the Sochi region, where the average annual temperatures remain quite high.

Since the snow fungus belongs to parasitic organisms, it settles on the trunks of fallen trees and draws juices and minerals from them. In Russia, you can see it mainly on oak trees. Tremella appears in mid-summer and bears fruit until mid-September, it can grow both singly and in small groups.

Grows a silver ear on deciduous tree trunks

Doubles and their differences

The unique external features of the fucus tremella practically do not allow it to be confused with any other mushrooms. However, in the absence of experience, species related to it can be mistaken for a snow tremor.

Orange shiver

White and orange tremors are very similar in structure to each other - the fruit bodies consist of thin petals of a gelatinous consistency. The orange shiver also grows on deciduous trees and chooses regions with warm climates.

As the name implies, the species can be distinguished by color - the orange shiver has a bright yellow-orange or red-orange tint. Sometimes in rainy weather, it can fade, and then it becomes almost impossible to tell the difference.

Important! The orange shiver belongs to the category of edible mushrooms, so a mistake when collecting is not particularly dangerous.

Brain trembling

Another species that, under certain conditions, can be confused with the snow tremella is the brain tremor. The fruit body is a gelatinous, gelatinous outgrowth on the bark of a tree. The shape is lumpy, uneven-spherical, so the trembling resembles a miniature human brain.

Although the color of the cerebral tremor can also be whitish and almost transparent, the shape does not allow confusing the fruiting body with a snow fungus. In addition, the brain tremor grows not on deciduous, but on coniferous trees. Fundamental differences turn out to be very useful, considering that the brain tremor is not suitable for eating, and it cannot be confused with the ice mushroom tremella.

Is the mushroom edible or not

Despite its unusual appearance and consistency, the snow mushroom is completely edible. It is not recommended to eat it raw, but after processing it can be added to a wide variety of dishes.

How to cook ice mushrooms

In cooking, the snow tremor is used very widely. It is not only boiled and fried, but also pickled, salted for the winter and dried. Tremella can be added to soups and main courses, it can serve as a good side dish for potatoes, pasta and cereals.

Before any preparation, the silver ear must be processed and prepared. You do not need to clean it, since it does not have ordinary legs and a hat. It is enough to simply cut off the small roots with which the tremella receives nutrients and shake off the remains of forest debris.

Before cooking, fresh snow shivers need to be boiled, or rather, steamed for 10 minutes in hot water. Steaming not only allows you to eliminate possible harmful substances in the composition, but also increases the volume - the silver ear swells about 3 times.

Fucus-shaped shiver is actively used in cooking

Ice mushroom recipes

You can rarely meet a snow mushroom in the forest, but there are a lot of recipes with it. Heat treatment is mainly practiced, after which it becomes especially tasty.

How to cook fried ice mushrooms

The simplest recipe suggests frying a snow mushroom in a pan with vegetable oil and spices. It is necessary to cut the fresh pulp into small pieces, and then put it in the pan.

The pulp is fried for a short time, only about 7 minutes until a golden hue appears, at the end, salt and pepper to your own taste. It is not necessary to steam the snow mushroom before frying.

Cooking scrambled eggs with ice mushrooms

Fucus tremella in combination with scrambled eggs is popular. To prepare a dish you need:

fry 3 eggs, 100 g of chopped ham and 50 g of hard cheese in a pan;
immediately after curdling the egg white, add 200 g of steamed tremella;
salt the eggs to taste and add pepper and your favorite herbs.

Fried eggs for no more than 10 minutes. The finished dish has an unusual aroma and bright flavors.

Silver ear is often fried with scrambled eggs.

How to make Korean ice mushroom

You can use fucus tremella to prepare a delicious and spicy dish according to the recipe for Korean ice mushroom. It is necessary:

steam and rinse with about 200 g of snow mushroom;
cut the pulp into small pieces and place in a ceramic container;
in a separate saucepan, mix 3 large spoons of soy sauce, 1 small spoonful of honey and 2 minced garlic cloves;
add a little black pepper, paprika or standard Korean-style carrot spices to the mixture to taste;
heat the mixture until the honey is completely dissolved.

Pour the Korean-style ice mushroom with the resulting sweet marinade and leave to marinate under the lid for 4 hours.

Korean fucus shiver is very popular

Snow mushroom soup recipe

You can add fucus tremella to a regular vegetable soup - the dish will acquire a pleasant aroma and original taste. The recipe looks like this:

cut into small cubes 2 potatoes, 1 medium carrot and an onion;
in 2 liters of water, the ingredients are boiled until they are completely softened;
add finely chopped dried shivers in the amount of 100 g to the broth and cook for another 15 minutes.

The soup needs to be salted to taste, if desired, you can add greens and a little pepper to it. It is undesirable to digest the snow mushroom, but with moderate heat treatment, it will delight you with its bright taste and pleasant texture.

You can add silver ear to soup

Advice! You can also put fresh fucus tremella in the soup, however, dried fruit bodies are used more often, since their aroma and taste are more intense.

How to pickle ice porcini mushrooms

For winter storage, the snow mushroom is often pickled. The recipe looks pretty simple:

1 kg of fresh shivers are washed, cut into small slices and boiled for 10 minutes in salted water;
in a separate saucepan, 50 g of sugar and 10 g of salt, pour 30 ml of vinegar and 200 ml of water, add 3 chopped cloves of garlic to the marinade;
the mushroom pulp is placed in a jar in a dense layer, a layer of onion cut into half rings is placed on top, and so, alternating layers, fill the container completely;
shiver and onions are poured with cold marinade and put under oppression.

Marinating the snow mushroom takes only 8 hours, after which it can be consumed.

How to salt a fucus shiver

Another way is to salt a snow mushroom for the winter. This is done very simply:

for 15 minutes, white shivers are boiled in salt water;
then the mushrooms are cut into large strips;
the strips are placed in a small jar, sprinkled with plenty of salt.

If desired, pepper, bay leaf and dill can be added to the brine - spices will make the taste of the salty shiver more pungent and spicy.

Silver ear mushroom is suitable for pickling and canning

How to preserve silver ears mushrooms for the winter

The preservation recipe suggests preserving the snow mushroom for the winter as follows:

white shivers in the amount of 1 kg are boiled for 15 minutes;
shortly before cooking, add 1 large spoonful of salt, the same amount of sugar and 3 umbrellas of dill to the pan;
season the ingredients with 5 black peppercorns, 2 cloves and 3 chopped garlic cloves;
cook for another 10 minutes, and then add 4 large tablespoons of vinegar and remove from the stove.

White shivers in a hot marinade are poured into sterile jars and tightly rolled up canned food for the winter.

Is it possible to dry and freeze jellyfish mushroom

It is not recommended to freeze the snow mushroom; the fucus tremella reacts poorly to a decrease in temperature. Freezing destroys all the nutrients in the composition of the mushroom and damages its structure.

But you can dry the fucus tremella. First, it is steamed in the standard way, and then a thin thread is passed through the fruiting bodies and suspended in a dry, ventilated place. You can also dry the tremella in the oven at 50 ° C, while leaving the door open.

Attention! Dried white shiver retains all the beneficial properties and rich aroma. Interestingly, when cooked after a new steaming, the tremella increases in volume again.

It is not advised to freeze the silver ear, but it is allowed to dry the tremella

The benefits and harms of snow mushrooms

The unusual fucus tremella has many health benefits. In particular, she:

increases immune resistance and accelerates the regeneration processes in the body;
improves blood circulation and prevents the development of varicose veins and thrombophlebitis;
reduces the level of glucose and harmful cholesterol in the blood, strengthens blood vessels and improves heart function;
has a beneficial effect on the respiratory system;
regulates digestion and metabolic processes;
accelerates peristalsis and stimulates bile secretion.

Tremella also has contraindications. These include:

pregnancy and lactation - any mushroom pulp is dangerous for women in position and nursing mothers;
children's age - you can offer a snow mushroom to a child only after 7 years;
individual intolerance.

Also, you should not use the white shiver at the same time as taking medications that thin the blood.

Silver ear has many valuable properties

What is useful in oncology

The valuable properties of the fucus tremella are used in the treatment of cancer. It has been proven that the white shiver increases the body's endurance and makes it more resistant to radiation, removes toxic substances from tissues and accelerates the recovery process. The snow mushroom is recommended for use after a course of chemotherapy, it helps the body to better cope with the side effects of treatment.

The use of silver mushrooms in cosmetology

The benefits and harms of ice mushroom also affect the cosmetic field. The mushroom pulp contains many polysaccharides, chemically similar to hyaluronic acid.

Commercial and home remedies containing fucus tremella extract have a moisturizing and rejuvenating effect on the skin. Masks and lotions containing tremella help to clear the face of acne and blackheads, increase the firmness and elasticity of the epidermis, and even out the complexion.

Hair masks are also created on the basis of tremella. The beneficial substances in the composition of the snow mushroom nourish the scalp, prevent the appearance of dandruff.

How to grow an ice mushroom at home

Fucus tremella is quite rare, so connoisseurs prefer to grow it at home or in the country. This can be done using a wet deciduous log without rot and flaws:

In a small log, holes are drilled no deeper than 4 cm and mycelium purchased from a special store is placed in them.
The log is placed in a warm and humid place on the ground, remembering to water it 3 times a week.
After the first rudiments of the tremella appear, the log is lowered into cold water for 1-2 days, and then vertically or obliquely placed in the air or in a bright warm room.

It is necessary to grow a snow mushroom at a temperature of at least + 25 ° C, regularly moistening wood or substrate. The first fruiting bodies appear 4-5 months after planting the mycelium. For the winter, the log should be moved to a darkened basement, but the temperature in it should still remain positive.

Interesting facts about snow mushrooms

The fucus tremella mushroom was discovered only about 150 years ago - for the first time in 1856 it was described by the British scientist Michaels Berkeley. But it gained popularity very quickly, for example, in China, the annual harvest of specially grown fruit bodies is about 130,000 tons.

The healing properties of the snow mushroom are widely used in oriental folk medicine. Asian healing practitioners use tremella to treat coughs and colds.

Snow mushroom is an expensive delicacy product. Only 50 years ago, it was available only to very rich people, and now for 1 kg of dried shivers, sellers can ask for about 1,500 rubles.

Fucus shiver is a rather expensive product

Conclusion

The snow mushroom is a very beautiful and useful representative of the mushroom kingdom. Although it is rarely found in nature, it is actively grown artificially, and therefore there are a lot of culinary recipes using fucus tremella.

Name:	Ice mushroom
A type:	Edible

Ice mushroom (Snow, Silver): photo and description, recipes