Priced At Rs 1.5 Lakh Per Kg, This Is One Of World's Most Expensive Varieties Of Mushroom

Mushrooms are considered one of the healthiest vegetables in the world. So, it is often included in the diet chart. There are many types of mushrooms found in the world, but there are a few varieties that are quite expensive. Today, let us take a look at one such mushroom, which is considered as one of the most expensive mushrooms in the world. We are talking about Japan’s Matsutake mushroom. This mushroom is grown in the Korean Peninsula and China and is also grown in America.

Matsutake mushrooms is an autumnal delicacy. In the meantime, the price is soaring due to their habitat in Japan decreasing.

The specialty of this mushroom is its smell. It is especially liked because of its pungent aroma and meat-like texture. Their price is $500 (Rs 41,708) per pound. If the price of one kg of this mushroom is calculated, then it ranges from Rs 1 to Rs 1.5 lakh.

What do Matsutake mushrooms taste like?

People often use words like spicy or cinnamon to describe their flavour. They are very pungent and can overpower the flavour of other mushrooms or ingredients in a dish.

Why are Matsutake mushrooms so expensive?

The quantity of Matsutake mushrooms is constantly decreasing in Japan due to the depletion of their natural environment, the red pine woods, which are being targeted by the invasive pinewood nematode, an invasive worm that originated in North America. The total annual harvest in Japan is now under 1000 metric tons.

What are Matsutake mushrooms used for?

Matsutake mushrooms can be seen in seasonal gift baskets that businesses occasionally present to their customers. They are commonly used to make Sukiyaki, a nabemono-style one-pot meal made with dashi, sake, mirin, and sugar. Additionally, they are used to prepare Matsutake gohan, a steamed rice dish that also contains mirin, soy sauce, sake, and kombu dashi.

Because of their unique flavour profile, mushrooms are usually not overworked; instead, they are enjoyed thinly sliced, in hot soups, or with steamed rice.

Another expensive mushroom is the enoki mushroom. It costs $8 per pound (£12.90 per kilogram). These days, Enoki mushrooms can be found in a lot of grocery stores in Europe and North America. They don’t look like most other types of mushrooms. They have long, thin, white stems with very small caps.