The Hypsizygus tessellatus or shimeji

Shimeji

Shimeji is a group of edible mushrooms native to East Asia, but also found in northern Europe. Hon-shimeji is a mycorrhizal fungus and difficult to cultivate. Other species are saprotrophs, and buna-shimeji is now widely cultivated...

is an edible mushroom

Edible mushroom

Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruiting bodies of several species of fungi. Mushrooms belong to the macrofungi, because their fruiting structures are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They can appear either below ground or above ground where they may be picked by hand...

 native to East Asia

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

. Buna shimeji is cultivated locally in Europe, North America and Australia and sold fresh in markets.

Two variations are known:

• Buna-shimeji (:ja:ブナシメジ), Hypsizigus tessellatus, (Brown Beech Mushroom , Beech Mushroom, BeechBrown Clamshell Mushroom);
• Bunapi-shimeji (:ja:ブナピー), (White Beech Mushroom, White Clamshell Mushroom); bunapi was selected from buna-shimeji and registered by Hokto Corporation.

Hypsizygus marmoreus is a synonym of Hypsizigus tessellatus.

Cooking

The Shimeji should be cooked, having a bitter taste when raw which disappears completely upon cooking. The cooked mushroom has a firm, slightly crunchy texture and a nutty flavor. Preparation makes the mushroom easier to digest. It is often eaten with stir-fried foods including wild game and seafood. It is used in soups, stews and sauces. When prepared alone, Shimeji mushrooms can be sautéed as a whole, including the stem or stalk (only the very end cut off), using a higher temperature; or, they can be slow roasted on a low temperature with a small amount of butter or cooking oil. Shimeji is used in soups, nabe

Nabemono

Nabemono or simply called nabe, is a term referring to all varieties of Japanese steamboat dishes, also known as one pot dishes....

 and takikomi gohan

Takikomi gohan

Takikomi gohan is a Japanese rice dish seasoned with dashi and soy sauce along with mushrooms, vegetables, meat, or fish. The ingredients of takikomi gohan are cooked with the rice; in a similar preparation, maze gohan, flavorful ingredients are mixed into cooked rice...

.

See also

• List of Japanese ingredients
• Medicinal mushrooms
  Medicinal mushrooms
  Medicinal mushrooms are mushrooms, or mushroom extracts, that are used or studied as possible treatments for diseases. Lentinula edodes , Grifola frondosa , Ganoderma lucidum , and Cordyceps, have a history of medicinal use spanning millennia in parts of Asia...
  
  
• Shimeji
  Shimeji
  Shimeji is a group of edible mushrooms native to East Asia, but also found in northern Europe. Hon-shimeji is a mycorrhizal fungus and difficult to cultivate. Other species are saprotrophs, and buna-shimeji is now widely cultivated...
  
  

External links

• Honshimeji Mushroom, RecipeTips.com. Brown Beech (Buna shimeji), White Beech (Bunapi shimeji), and the Pioppino (Agrocybe aegerita) mushrooms.
• Bunashimeji and Bunapi, Hokuto Corporation.