Oyster
King oyster
Pleurotus eryngii
Never eat a wild-foraged mushroom you identified from a website, this one included. Wild mushroom misidentification can be fatal, and no page can rule a specimen IN. This reference is about cultivated and shop-bought mushrooms only: species you buy, or grow from bought spawn, where there is nothing to identify. To identify anything wild, consult a qualified local expert holding the actual specimen, never a description on a screen.
Also sold as
- King trumpet
- French horn mushroom
- Eryngi
- King brown
In the kitchen
Flavour
Little raw, but develops a rich umami savour once cooked. The thick white stem is the prize, not the small cap.
Texture
Dense and meaty, the firmest of the oysters. Sliced into rounds and scored, it is a common scallop stand-in.
In the kitchen
Sear thick slices or planks slowly to caramelise the stem, or shred it for a scallop or pulled texture. It holds its shape better than any other oyster.
How it is cultivated
Substrate
Sterilised, supplemented hardwood sawdust. Unusually for an oyster it associates in the wild with the roots of plants in the carrot family rather than growing straight on wood.
Fruiting temperature
15-18°C (59-64°F), triggered by a cold shock
Humidity
90-95% relative humidity
How it is grown
Supplemented hardwood sawdust block, sterilised
Time to first harvest
About 4 to 8 weeks from inoculation
How much, how long
Fewer, larger fruits than other oysters
Difficulty at home
Intermediate. Wants sterilised supplemented sawdust and a cool spell to pin, so it is a step up from the straw oysters.
What is worth knowing about it
The meatiest oyster, grown for its thick stem rather than its cap. Since its commercial introduction in Korea in 1995 it has become one of the most important cultivated gourmet mushrooms.
Elsewhere on the site
Sources
- Wikipedia, Pleurotus eryngii
- North Spore and GroCycle grower guides (fruiting range)
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