Hen of the Woods/Maitake (Grifola frondosa)

One of my patients was kind enough to bring me a bag full of wild-foraged hen of the woods last week.  I haven't tried them yet but they look like prize specimens!

History:This multi-headed (aka polypore) mushroom grows near the bases of trees, especially oak trees.  They are native to Japan and North America, most especially this neck of the woods, New England.  In Japan, they are much better known as maitake, and regularly grow to gigantic proportions, as big as 50 pounds.  They have always been more of a medicinal than culinary mushroom, but they are edible.

Growing: Unlike the shiitake, humans have learned how to cultivate the maitake.  In fact one company in Japan produces 200,000 pounds per day!  This process, which involves a conglomerate of sawdust, bran, water, and nutrients, produces the majority of maitake used in the world.

Harvesting: The key to foraging for your own hen of the woods is to find them and then don't tell anybody else about where you found them, ever.  That's because they are perennial and will grow in the same spot, year after year.  They need cold nights and wet days which makes September and October the prime season around here.

Processing: This mostly consists of cleaning.  If you are using them for medicinal reasons, you will need to go after the tuber, which is potato sized and is usually dried and ground into a powder.

Health Information: They're mostly water, which means that a cup of sliced 'shrooms will only have 26 kcal.  The nutrients of note are niacin (23% RDA) and riboflavin (10%).  The real excitement about maitake is in the medical realm.  One of the larger controlled clinical trials of a supplement was recently published.  This phase I/II trial, out of Memorial Sloan Kettering, demonstrated that maitake had real and measurable effects on the immune systems of 34 breast cancer patients.  This sort of trial is not designed to look at outcomes and it remains to be seen if they will conduct a phase III, and what the endpoint would be.  Nevertheless, this is fairly strong evidence that maitake has a real effect on the immune system.  There is ongoing research into this mushroom's potential anti-cancer properties, although no human clinical trials are currently ongoing.

Sustainability: As a wild foraged food, the hen of the woods seems to be safe, for now.  Like any remedy (think rhino horns...) it could become endangered at some point, especially if science points to more benefits.  Fortunately, cultivation can lead to safe and potentially sustainable production.

Bottom Line: This medicinal mushroom is also a culinary treat with a short season for brave foragers.


Relevant Blog: Girlichef: I wanted to find a blog that wrote about the culinary aspects of the hen of the woods, and I found it.  The link is to a post that includes some great pictures and a recipe for HOTW + chicken and herbs.

References:
1. Wikipedia
2. Cultivating maitake
3. Maitake nutrition facts from the USDA
4. Image from the Foodista Blog, via Creative Commons