Chestnut mushrooms (Pholiota adiposa), also called cinnamon caps and fat Pholiota, are known as numerisugitake mushrooms in Japan. They have been enjoyed for centuries in Japan but they are still relatively unknown in the western world.
These mushrooms are not to be confused with a darker version of the common brown, button or cremini mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus), sometimes marketed as chestnut mushrooms because of their shape and colour.
A humid environment is important to mushroom formation, and can be created by misting water from a spray bottle into a humidity tent. Kits may also be grown outdoors during the spring and fall.
All natural ingredients. Your kit contains a mushroom culture grown on pure hardwood sawdust and organic Canadian wheat bran. No chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used.
Fruiting instructions can be found here.
Kit size ~2kg (4lbs+)
Visit our Learn to Grow page to learn how to expand your mushroom kit into buckets of sawdust or used to inoculate logs!
For peak viability we recommend using your mushroom products within weeks, and storing in a cool location until use. Refrigeration between 2-4C is ideal for the longest shelf-life. Even when refrigerated, the fungal mycelium continues to grow, and eventually mushrooms burst out one way or another.
After harvesting the best way to store mushrooms is in a paper bag, which allows them to breathe. Leave them in the main part of the refrigerator to get good airflow, not the produce drawer. If stored properly fresh mushrooms should last for 4 days in the refrigerator. Do not slice or rinse your chestnut mushrooms before storing them in the fridge, as this can make them go bad faster. Chestnut mushrooms can also be dried and kept in a sealed container away from direct sunlight for extended use.
Chestnut mushrooms’ caps have brownish scales, with frilly white veil fragments when young, and often look slightly shaggy. Both the cap and the stem are edible and when cooked correctly they maintain a lovely firm texture.
Chestnut mushrooms taste similar to shiitake mushrooms but milder, with a distinct nutty umami flavor that gives them their name. Their mildly-sweet earthy flavor has a slightly peppery finish, and people often describe them as buttery and nutty with a woodsy aroma.
Chestnut mushrooms can be used in many dishes that call for Shiitake mushrooms. They are best sauteed and go well with onion, garlic and shallots. You can serve them with meat, on salads and in soups, cream sauces, casseroles and stir-fries.
While the entire mushroom retains its firmness, the caps have a silky texture when cooked, and the stems are crunchy, similar to lightly cooked celery or asparagus. When you use both the stems and caps, and the result is a delicious dish with two different mushroom textures.
The fact that chestnut mushrooms retain their shape and texture and don’t shrink as much as many other mushrooms during cooking makes them versatile and perfect for dishes that require longer cooking times like soups and stews.
Chestnut mushrooms are packed full of essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals and proteins.
Chestnut mushrooms are not only a good source of protein and other nutrients, but they also have antimicrobial and anti-tumor properties and contain lectins that help prevent the spread of certain cancer cells.
They also contain anti-inflammatory and antioxidative compounds that help treat inflammation and boost the immune system.
