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

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

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

my country was a major exporter of matsutake mushrooms in the last century. As the number of people picking matsutake mushrooms has increased, the production of matsutake mushrooms in our country has also been decreasing year by year. Nowadays, matsutake mushrooms have been listed in my country's "List of National Key Protected Wild Plants" and are protected. The level is national level II key protection.

In addition to large-scale harvesting, another reason for the sharp decline in the number of matsutake mushrooms 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 most selective members rested in Bachu after completing their day's tasks, the locals entertained them by treating them to local delicacies and specialties.

Among them, Yang Chaoyue made a dish with local Bachu mushrooms in order to let everyone taste her fried eggs and fried mushrooms.

What the camera shows is that she grabbed a handful of mushrooms, and 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 Yarkandsa River Basin of Xinjiang. Because its main production area is in Bachu County on the edge of the Tarim Basin, it is called Bachu.

mushroom.

Bachu mushroom is different from other fungi in Xinjiang. It does not grow in mountainous areas, but in Populus euphratica forest areas.

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 to break out of the ground after spring rain or light rain lightly moistens the surface.

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.

Every summer before we go on a trip, 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 that 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 the mushroom called Dabai under the thick pine needles on the hillside.

The crispy mushrooms, the moment I saw them, the pain and fatigue of climbing the mountain disappeared.

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 very fragrant. Since then, we have never seen the velvet antler mushroom again.

I remember that seven or eight years ago, my brother came back from a construction site in the Yili area and brought back a bag of dried mushrooms for my mother. They were wrinkled. He told us that these were morels, which were only found in the mountains and sold locally.

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 that we had to go deep into the mountains to collect 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.

That kind of mushroom called porcini is also available in other places, but the taste is not as good as the one in 185th Group.

In the 185th Regiment Company, because there is a lot of rain 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.