When people who love eating fungi mention the most expensive and tastiest mushrooms, the first thing that comes to mind is probably matsutake.

Tricholoma matsutake is mainly produced in Jilin, Northeast China, and is currently found in Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet and other places. Tricholoma matsutake is also found in Anhui, Guangxi, Shanxi, Qinghai and other places, but in small quantities.

The medicinal ingredients such as matsutake alcohol and isotricholol contained in matsutake mushrooms are included in Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" because of their functions of resolving phlegm and analgesic, and can treat numbness of hands and feet, waist and leg pain, etc. "among.

my country was a major exporter of matsutake mushrooms in the last century. As the number of people picking matsutake mushrooms increased, the output of matsutake mushrooms in our country was also decreasing year by year. Nowadays, matsutake mushrooms have been listed as one of my country's "National Key Protected Wild Products". In the Plant List, the protection level is national level II key protection.

In addition to large-scale harvesting, another reason for the sharp decline in the number of matsutake is that it has extremely high requirements for the growing environment. It can only grow in virgin forests without any pollution and human intervention.

When we envy the treasures that nature has given to the southwest, we don’t know that there is a fungus in Xinjiang that can rival it.

When I was watching "Extreme Challenge" some time ago, I saw a program with extremely select guests in Bachu, Xinjiang.

When the extremely selective members rested in Bachu after completing their day's tasks, the locals entertained them by treating them to local delicacies and specialties. In order to let everyone taste her fried eggs and fried mushrooms, Yang Chaoyue fried a dish with local Bachu mushrooms.

What the camera showed was that she grabbed a handful of mushrooms, but when she checked out the next day, she discovered that just such a handful of mushrooms actually cost 600 yuan.

Not only me, but also the guests at the time did not expect this price. However, after getting to know it, I learned that the annual output of Bachu mushrooms here is only 10 tons. Five or six kilograms of fresh mushrooms can finally be converted into one kilogram of freeze-dried mushrooms.

Bachu mushrooms grow in the Populus euphratica forest areas of Bachu County, Maigaiti County, and Shache County in the Yarkand River Basin of Xinjiang, because its main producing area is in Bachu County on the edge of the Tarim Basin. , so it is called Bachu mushroom.

Bachu mushroom is different from other fungi in Xinjiang. It does not grow in mountainous areas, but in areas with Populus euphratica forests. Its growth must meet three conditions: Yarkand River water, Populus euphratica forest, and desert arid climate. We all know that mushrooms usually grow in humid and rainy environments, especially mountain mushrooms, which can only be found after heavy rain.

But the Bachu mushroom is an exception. It only needs spring rain or light rain to lightly moisten the surface before it breaks out of the ground. For Bachu County, which is dry and rainless, the average annual precipitation is only 50mm, so Bachu mushrooms are only available for a month in late April and early May every year.

And if the ground is sprayed with pesticides or fertilizers, mushrooms will no longer grow. In fact, if you think about it, if it were not for such strict environmental requirements, Bachu mushrooms would probably not be sold at a price of 12,000 yuan/kg.

Before going out every summer, we always ask where there are mushrooms. Places with mushrooms seem to have their own attraction. Of course, in some places, even if you hear there are mushrooms, you may not be able to pick them when you actually go there.

The first time I picked mushrooms in the mountains was in the summer of 2009. That year we hiked to Tianchi. When we climbed up to the highest mountain, we suddenly discovered thick pine needles on the hillside. The mushrooms below are called big white crisps. The moment I see them, the pain and fatigue of climbing the mountain are gone.

Later I heard that there is a kind of mushroom called velvet antler mushroom in the mountains. We have only collected one in so many years. The velvet antler mushroom smelled of a delicate fragrance. I have never seen any velvet antler mushroom since then. The shadow of the mushroom.

I remember that seven or eight years ago, my brother came back from the construction site in Ili area and brought back a bag of dried mushrooms for my mother. They were wrinkled. He told us that these were morels, which only grow in the mountains. It only exists, and the local price is around 2,000 yuan. It has high nutritional value, he told me.

Later I learned that morels are only found in the forests deep in the Tianshan Mountains, and only the Kazakh herdsmen who graze their animals know where to pick them.

When we were crossing the S101 Provincial Highway in 2018, we met two Kazakh herdsmen carrying woven bags. They told us to go deep into the mountains to pick morels. The leader asked them: Can we pick it up? They looked at us and shook their heads: Yours, no!

Collecting morels is probably a strenuous job. Not to mention climbing mountains, the key is to be able to find them. For those of us who are accustomed to living in the city, it is natural that this is not possible.

On October 1st this year, when we went to the First Company of the Northwest, we heard that there was a mushroom in the local area that was very delicious. The kind of mushroom called porcini is also available in other places, but the taste is not as good as the one in the 185th Group.

In the 185th Regiment Company, due to the heavy rainfall in the area, this mushroom can be found in the mountains and forests after the rain every year from May to September. The price of 185 groups of dried porcini mushrooms is between 400 yuan/kg and 500 yuan/kg.

Since the first time we picked the big white crisp in 2009, every year when we travel, after arriving at the destination, we will always look for mushrooms nearby. I am lucky to find them, but I can’t find them. My life.

It is this kind of Buddhist thought that is still not found most of the time.

However, occasionally I suddenly encounter a lot of mushrooms. I pick them excitedly at the time, but then taste them hesitantly, and finally throw them away simply because I saw them on the news. There are too many poisoning incidents caused by eating mushrooms. We who live in deep mountains and old forests are always afraid that we will accidentally get infected. After all, life is still very beautiful.

Usually, straw mushrooms are the most encountered. Although these mushrooms are delicious, they are still a little bit toothy. Unless we pick them when there are really no other mushrooms around, we usually pick them. Let them go.

There is also a common mushroom called horse dung bag, which can be as small as a stone or as big as a stone. Usually we don’t touch it. It is said that it can also be eaten, but its main purpose is It is used to treat trauma such as stopping bleeding.

I remember that in the summer of 2017, we encountered a lot of mushrooms in Lujiao Bay. However, after we picked them excitedly, we found that they were bitter when we went back to taste them. Being timid, we decisively removed the plate of mushrooms. Throw it out, only the meat will be wasted. Later, I asked my brother who worked there, and he said that the mushrooms there were indeed bitter. They had eaten them before, and they were fine. They just tasted bad, and they never picked them again after eating them.

I remember Li Juan wrote in her book about picking fungus to sell. Because they follow Kazakh shepherds to sell goods all year round, they will go deep into the mountains of Altai when there is no one around. Pick mushrooms.

They initially picked mushrooms there. Then suddenly fungus appeared, so they started picking fungus. Later, because they picked more, they sold them to tourists from other places in Xinjiang. Unexpectedly, some tourists After eating it, I made a reservation with them for next year. As a result, a few years later, the fungus disappeared. In her words, it came suddenly and went away suddenly.

Of course, in addition to edible fungi, there are many that are inedible. In short, those brightly colored and strange-looking fungi, when you are not sure whether they are edible, try to avoid them. Do not eat.

Deep in the mountains, there are still many places where people have not set foot. The best mountain treasures must be hidden, but I would rather they not be discovered. Only in this way will Xinjiang continue to be so beautiful. , and only in this way will "Beautiful Xinjiang" attract more people to come here.