Wood ear (Auricularia auricula judae) is an ear shaped fungus with a jelly sweet like consistency which grows on dead or dying Elder trees. Given the right weather conditions, it can be found almost year round and is easy to gather and dry out at home in preparation for the recipe below. The best ways to dry out mushrooms which you have gathered is either in a dehydrator, oven on a low heat with the door ajar to allow moisture to escape, or by hanging them in a dry and warm place in a mesh bag. We often hang ours near the wood burner and give them a shake every couple of days to ensure that nothing is sticking together and encapsulating moisture.
This mushroom can be used in stocks, dried and ground down into a powder, or cooked into casseroles, stir fry’s and soups. Our favourite use for them is to create what we affectionately call an alcoholic fungal turkish delight, inspired by John Wright.
Ingredients
For the alcoholic chocolate covered version
- Dried Wood Ear – you may want to break larger pieces into 1cm squares
- Alcohol – we find rum works particularly well
- Chocolate – not the best of the best but also not cooking chocolate
For the non-alcoholic version
- Dried Wood Ear – you may want to break larger pieces into 1cm squares
- Fruit juice
- Sugar
- Citric acid (if you want added fizz)
You will also need:
A clean jar with a lid which your mushrooms will fill to about halfway up to give them room to expand as they rehydrate.
A clean jar to store your finished sweets with an airtight lid for storage.
Method
1. Put dried wood ear into the clean jar until half full
2. Fill the jar to cover the fungi with alcohol/fruit juice of your choice and leave for 2 days. If you forget about it soaking in alcohol for a while, don’t worry. However if it is soaking in fruit juice then it is best to keep in the fridge if you won’t be proceeding to the next step after a couple of days (or it will go ‘off’ or start to grow mould)
3. Check on your mushrooms each day and shake the jar to ensure an even rehydration.
The next part is more time consuming as the mushrooms need to be chocolate coated individually, if you add them all into a bowl of melted chocolate then the alcohol will make the chocolate seize.
4. Melt chocolate in a bain marie or carefully in the microwave so as not to burn it.
5. Whilst chocolate is melting, fish out your soaked fungi and place on paper towel and pat dry to remove excess liquid. If any seem too big at this stage, tear or cut them into smaller pieces.
6. With a skewer or fork, pick up pieces of wood ear one by one and dip into the molten chocolate, allow excess to drip back into the bowl and place the coated fungi onto a piece of greaseproof paper on a flat surface. Repeat with the rest of your pieces ensuring that they are separate on the greaseproof paper and then leave for the chocolate to set.
7. These store best in an airtight container (such as a jar) in a cool, dark place. If left in the fridge they tend to develop condensation.
Notes:
The alcohol infused wood ear coated in chocolate make a great gift and keep well for a fairly long time, we’re talking a couple of months. However if you have infused with fruit juice they will need storing in the fridge as they will be more likely to develop additional (and unwanted) mould/fungi!
If you have more alcohol infused fungi than you want to use at that time, simply leave the excess in the jar until you next need it.
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