Lentinula edodes
Lentinula edodes
Common Name: Shiitake
Type: Gourmet, Medicinal
Shiitake is one of the oldest cultivated mushrooms, and is still widely cultivated all over the world today- responsible for a quarter of annual production worldwide.
Traditionally, Shiitake was cultivated outdoors on logs, using the “soak and strike” method. Most commercial Shiitake operations today use the more efficient bag method of cultivating on hardwood sawdust.
Shiitake can be fickle… it won’t grow on a many different substrates, and won’t take to bottle farming techniques.
Either way, people are growing- and eating- a lot of Shiitake!
And for good reason.
Shiitake can be used fresh or dried, has an excellent shelf life, and can be added to all sorts of meals. It also has many beneficial medicinal properties, and is reported to have amazing benefits for the skin.