The Herbarium
Part II · Medicinal fungi
Herb. No. 174
Nameko
Pholiota nameko
Strophariaceae
The amber, glossy soup mushroom of Japanese kitchens — a cultivated cluster whose slime is the point of the miso.
Cultivated log or block mushroom. The supermarket nameko is this species. Not a wild Pholiota you cannot name.
- Parts used
- Fruiting body
- Traditional notes
- Kitchen soup
- Grow · USDA 6b
- Cool-weather log or block crop. Fruiting around 50–60°F. Spawn on pasteurized hardwood or a kit. In work: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · Oct · Nov · Dec
- Harvest
- Clusters while the caps are still convex and glossy.
- Cool fruiting. A warm room is a dry cap.
- Twist the cluster. Don’t wreck the block.
Safety
Mushroom allergy Wild Pholiota you cannot name
Lore
Nameko means slimy mushroom, which is advertising of a sort. Japanese farms made it ordinary; the wild mountain log is older. The gel that Western cooks want to rinse is the reason it belongs in a bowl, not on a grill.
The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.