Chicken of the Woods Rules the Roost

When it comes to stunning looking mushrooms, the chicken of the woods ranks up there with its beautiful colors and interesting shapes.

This chicken is easy to spot, with a striking yellow to orange color and shelves of overlapping tiers growing on or at the base of a tree.

It’s also packed with health benefits, making it a worthy addition to recipes for its flavor as well as providing a boost to your well-being.

Here’s what you need to know about the chicken of the woods, and why you’ll want to “feather your nest” with this unique fungus.

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What This Chicken of the Woods Looks Like

The chicken of the woods, or Laetiporus sulphureus, is a species of fungus that grows on trees, and is found in Europe and North America.

The mushrooms grow in fan-shaped shelves on tree trunks and branches, typically overlapping in tiers. Its fruit bodies are a striking golden-yellow to bright orange in color. When they age, they do fade to grey or tan.

The fruiting body grows directly out from the trunks of trees, and grows on either dead or mature dying hardwoods. Common trees include oak, cherry and beech.

Its range may actually be restricted to east of the Rocky Mountains, and fruits from August to October or later. As the mushroom continues to be studied, there seem to be a few species in North America, with different varieties having either white pored isolates or yellow pored isolates, and different variations found in different areas.

Each shelf of the mushroom can be 2-24 inches across and up to 1.5 inches thick. The undersides are tube-like pores.

Identification of Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

Image courtesy The Wildlife Trusts

The Chicken of the Woods can be found in woodlands, as well as parks, towns and gardens. In fact, Wildlife Trusts encourage homeowners to leave log piles and dead wood to help fungi that depend on waste to grow.

Chicken of the Woods is a sulfur-yellow bracket fungus that’s sometimes called the “Sulfur polypore.” It grows in tiered clusters, often high on the trunks of standing deciduous trees. It’s most common from June through November.

If you’re wondering, How do I identify Chicken of the Woods mushrooms? To identify it, look for several thick, overlapping brackets of yellow fungus, fan-shaped and undulating on the edges. Each layer is soft and spongy when young and will exude a yellow liquid if squeezed. The upper surface is described as “velvety” and yellow-orange, while the underside is yellow and covered with pores.

There is a similar fungus known as Pale Chicken of the Woods or Laetiporus cincinnatus. This one is orange to pinky orange on top and white below. Some resources call the two mushrooms the “two chicks.”

What This Chicken Tastes Like

It may not be a surprise to learn that the chicken of the woods gets its name from Its taste. It doesn’t really look like a chicken, and should not be confused with similarly named mushrooms like hen of the woods (Grifola frondosa or maitake) or the turkey tail mushroom (Trametes versicolor, Coriolus versicolor and Polyporus versicolor).

The texture of its flesh is also said to resemble cooked chicken, adding to the reason for its name. It can be prepared like you’d prepare chicken, and in fact can be used as a substitute for chicken in vegetarian or vegan dishes.

Not everyone thinks it tastes like a chicken, however. Others believe it tastes like crab or lobster, so it’s sometimes referred to as crab of the woods or even lobster of the woods. Once again, that can be confusing as it’s not the same as the lobster mushroom (Hypomyces lactifluorum).

While these other varieties are also tasty and healthy, the chicken of the woods has its own flavor and texture. If you happen to be foraging for chicken of the woods, check to be sure they grow in your region. Choose those that discharge a watery liquid when you cut into them. Pick only the young edges of the mushroom, as the older, grey fungus can be tough. If left to grow, the Chicken brackets can get as large as 100 pounds.

Will Chicken of the woods make you sick? As always, if you find the mushroom in the wild, it’s best to consult with an expert to ensure you have the right variety of mushroom before eating it.

If you know you’ve got a Chicken of the Woods, start by eating a small amount to see how your stomach reacts to it, and be sure to cook the mushrooms before eating. They can also survive in the freezer if you have too many to eat in one sitting. Is chicken of the woods hallucinogenic? No.

What This Chicken Can Do For You

Like so many other edible mushrooms, the chicken of the woods provides a boost to your well being. Numerous medical and scientific studies have displayed its medicinal properties:

Anti-inflammatory: In one study, an anti-inflammatory triterpene was isolated from the fruiting body of the Miniatus variety of Laetiporus sulphureus. This derivative was found to be a crucial component in the anti-inflammatory activity of the mushroom.

Antioxidant: In other research, polysaccharides were isolated from the spent substrates of the Laetiporus sulphureus. It showed antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities when provided to acute alcohol-induced mice. The study concluded that the mushroom could be used as a functional food or a natural drug for the prevention of alcohol-induced alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and other liver diseases.

Other studies have shown that the chicken of the woods displays antioxidant activity, and what’s called free radical scavenging activity – which means the antioxidant helps protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals.

Antibacterial and antifungal: Other research looked at the antimicrobial properties of the lipid fraction of L. Sulphureus. Results indicated that the lipid fractions in the mushrooms may provide mild antibacterial and antifungal properties, making them an excellent alternative healthy food. The authors went on to say that these natural products with antimicrobial activity are safer than synthetic ones in terms of side effects on humans and the environment.

Supports tooth health: Finally, a really interesting result came from experiments that showed the L. sulphureus cell-wall preparations can help create “mutanase” activity, which helps prevent tooth decay. The authors concluded that the characteristics of the mushroom could hold potential application as an “active agent of oral care compositions for controlling dental biofilm” and it could have implications in the prevention of tooth decay.

Where to Buy Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

If you’re looking to add Chicken of the Woods mushrooms to your diet, there are a few ways to do that.

Retail stores will often sell Chicken of the Woods during the fruiting season of late summer and early fall. Dried options are available at other times of year. There are also a number of online mushroom stores that sell Chicken of the Woods. 

If you want to grow your own Chicken of the Woods, then a mycelium plug is one option. Purchase a package of spawn and grow mushrooms on logs, stumps and trees. With this option, your mushrooms will fruit in 6-12 months, and should produce for several years. The best hardwood to use is living or dead oak trees. Sawdust spawn is another option for growing mushrooms at home. 

After inoculating the logs, it’s recommended that the logs be partially buried under 2 inches of topsoil.  When the mushrooms fruit from the logs, they will emerge from the soil. However, those who sell the growing kits warn that Chicken of the Woods is a difficult mushroom species to cultivate.

How To Cook This Chicken

Can you eat Chicken of the Woods fungus? Yes, but it’s important to note that some people report gastrointestinal upset after eating chicken of the woods, so it’s good to start with a small amount the first time you try it. It should always be cooked first.

When cleaning the mushrooms, try not to use too much water as the mushroom will absorb the liquid. Cut them into small pieces to make them easier to cook, and then you can cook them in a variety of ways, including frying, deep frying, sautéing, or baking.

They can be added to a dish such as pasta, rice, risotto, eggs or casseroles. They can be served as a side dish or use them as a replacement for meat. Think of the flavor of chicken, crab or lobster and they can replace any of those in a dish.

Final Thoughts

It’s fun to try different varieties of mushrooms, and some provide truly unique flavors that enhance your different recipes.

It’s also worth experimenting with a variety of mushroom types for the many health benefits.

Chicken of the woods is one of those mushrooms that’s worth finding, either in your local woods or at a store. It boasts a spectacular color, and a flavor that’s been described as tasting like chicken, crab or lobster.

Taste one for yourself and find out that when it comes to health and flavor, the chicken of the woods rules the roost.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetiporus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetiporus_sulphureus

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4505001/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5753021/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4444868/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2952102/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408304/

https://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/chicken-of-the-woods.html#sthash.BfvWDgDh.dpbs