Tremella fuciformis, also known as white fungus, is an edible fungus. Tremella fuciformis contains a variety of nutrients and colloidal components. Tremella fuciformis soup is also a familiar beauty soup. There are certain things to pay attention to in how to cook thick tremella fuciformis soup, but the most important thing is the selection of ingredients.

When making Tremella fuciformis soup, you should generally choose Tremella fuciformis specially made for soup, also known as "Ugly Ear". Among Ugly Ears, honey flower Tremella is the best. In addition, there is also a kind of crispy ear, which is used to make cold dishes. No matter how hard you cook this kind of crispy ear, there is no way to get a sticky texture.

The basic rules for choosing Tremella fuciformis are to smell, look, and pinch three times. First, check whether there is a pungent smell after sulfur fumigation. Secondly, look at the color. Too white or too yellow is not good (a white fungus that is too white may look good). , but it is very likely that it is made by unscrupulous merchants after being smoked with sulfur. If it is too yellow, it may deteriorate). The one with the most yellow color at the root and gradually turning white around it is best. The one with three pinches of hardness and toughness like an eraser is best. It is too brittle. Or too hard is not good.

The characteristics of Tremella fuciformis at each level are posted for reference: High-quality Tremella fuciformis: yellow or beige, slightly shiny, large and round flower shape, light in size, thick flesh, no impurities, no eyes Feet, the water is very swollen and slightly fragrant. Inferior white fungus: The color is impure or gray, the ears are thin and hard, there is a sound when chewing, the ears and feet are not completely removed, and the distension is poor. Deteriorated Tremella fuciformis: gray-yellow or dark green, thin and shapeless, with thin and opaque flesh, inelastic and brittle, with spots and ears and feet.

There is also a simple and crude way, which is to buy expensive ones. The vegetable market sells snow fungus for 2 yuan per flower, and the snow fungus counter in the boutique supermarket sells it, so I don’t know whether it’s good or bad.

The left side of the picture is the ordinary white fungus bought at the market, and the right side is the honey flower snow fungus. Judging from the flower shape, snow fungus is smaller and denser, and generally larger. In terms of color, snow fungus is more yellowish.

Next is the treatment method of Tremella fungus. This is crucial. The basic treatment methods of Tremella fungus are cleaning, soaking and tearing.

The first thing I want to talk about is tearing the pieces. Many people cut the white fungus into small pieces directly with a knife to save trouble after soaking it. This greatly reduces the gelatinization of the white fungus. Mainly because the cuts made with a knife are neat and crisp. Compared with tearing it by hand, it is easier to cook and get a sticky texture. Generally, it can be cut into the size of rose petals.

The second thing to pay attention to is the cleaning and soaking of white fungus. Generally, white fungus can be completely soaked in 2 hours, and some people will soak it for a whole night. Of course, most people will choose to soak their hair first and then wash it after soaking. In fact, such steps will greatly reduce the viscosity of the stewed white fungus and also lose a lot of nutrients. The main reason is that people often pour away the soaking water directly after soaking their hair, and this water contains a lot of collagen extracted from Tremella fuciformis. Especially if you pour the water after soaking it all night, even the best Tremella fuciformis will be lost. , it won’t be sticky when cooked.

So the correct way is to simply soak your hair first. A slightly better Tremella will expand soon after it comes into contact with water. During this process, tear the Tremella into small florets (be clear that the purpose of soaking your hair is to Tear it into pieces instead of soaking it for a longer time (the cleaner it will be), clean it, and soak it in water for 2 hours until it is completely soaked. Then, boil the white fungus that is torn into small pieces together with the soaking water to ensure that the porridge is both sticky and nutritious. It won't be lost either.

Simple soaking (about 10~20 minutes)

Comparison picture after simple soaking

Tear into small pieces, add water and soak again ( About 1.5~2 hours)

After talking about processing the problem, the next step is the ingredients. The same white fungus is paired with peach gum or saponin rice, and when cooked it becomes extremely viscous and very nutritious. In comparison, cooking white fungus alone is simple, but it is much inferior in terms of consistency and nutritional content. If you are too lazy to mix the ingredients, you can add some jujubes and wolfberries, which is much better than cooking it alone.

We should also remind you when adding sugar. It is best to use rock sugar. The effects of brown sugar and white sugar will be greatly reduced. People who don't like too sweet food or want to lose weight can use longan instead, which has more nutrients.

Ingredients with pictures and text (two servings)

The last step is the cooking method. Nowadays, when everyone cooks white fungus, most people still choose to simmer it slowly, and many people also like to use home appliances such as rice cookers. When stewing the product, of course, different cooking methods will produce different textures. As for which method to choose, it all comes down to personal convenience.

The one I commonly use is the health pot. In order to avoid suspicion of advertising, I will not mention the brand. I will simply talk about cooking white fungus in the health pot. It is simpler than simmering. Pour the ingredients into the pot, select the program and press the power switch. Then you can do other things, saving you a lot of worry and trouble of watching the fire. The stew tastes much better than that of a rice cooker, and is basically the same as simmering.

The dosage is 1300ml of water (preferably the water used to soak white fungus), half a white fungus, and 40g of rock sugar (the amount of rock sugar is between 20g and 50g, add more if you like it sweet, less if you like it lighter) , with this health pot, you can stew the colloid in one hour, and it will be as sticky as honey in 1.5 to 2 hours.

As a reminder, it is best to add rock sugar together with the white fungus and all the ingredients from the beginning. This will add more flavor and increase the viscosity to a certain extent. If you add it in the middle of cooking, it may cause the pot to burn. If you add it after it is cooked, the flavor will be uneven.

Pour all the ingredients and the water for soaking the white fungus into the pot. The honey white fungus is on the left and the ordinary white fungus is on the right.

During the cooking process, the "Healthy Soup" program is selected for one hour. At this time, you can do other things.

After an hour, you can already feel the consistency. If you want it to be thicker, you can start the health soup mode again.

For comparison, the honey flower Tremella on the left is very sticky and the soup is not easy to retain. On the right is ordinary white fungus, the soup is much thinner, and water-like juice easily oozes out.

Looking closely from the back of the pot (the direction has changed, so now the left side is the common white fungus and the right side is the honey flower white fungus), the honey flower white fungus is obviously much sticky.

It tastes like a Western cream soup, but this white fungus soup is healthier, highly nutritious, and relatively simple to make.