name: Maitake

flavor_db_name_variants: maitake

source: foodb

status: draft

food_db_id: Maitake

id: 555

name_scientific: Grifola frondosa

description: Grifola frondosa is a polypore mushroom that grows in clusters at the base of trees, particularly oaks. The mushroom is commonly known among English speakers as hen-of-the-woods, ram's head and sheep's head. In the United States' supplement market, as well as in Asian grocery stores, the mushroom is known by its Japanese name maitake, which means "dancing mushroom". Throughout Italian American communities in the northeastern United States, it is commonly known as the signorina mushroom. G. frondosa should not be confused with Laetiporus sulphureus, another edible bracket fungus that is commonly called chicken of the woods or "sulphur shelf". The fungus becomes inedible like all polypores when they are older, because it is too tough to eat. G. frondosa grows from an underground tuber-like structure known as a sclerotium, about the size of a potato. The fruiting body, occurring as large as 100 cm, is a cluster consisting of multiple grayish-brown caps which are often curled or spoon-shaped, with wavy margins and 2?7 cm broad. The undersurface of each cap bears approximately one to three pores per millimeter, with the tubes rarely deeper than 3 mm. The milky-white stipe (stalk) has a branchy structure and becomes tough as the mushroom matures. In Japan, the Maitake can grow to more than 50 pounds (20 kilograms), earning this giant mushroom the title "King of Mushrooms". Maitake is one of the major culinary mushrooms used in Japan, the others being shiitake, shimeji and enoki. They are used in a wide variety of dishes, often being a key ingredient in nabemono or cooked in foil with butter.

itis_id: null

wikipedia_id: Maitake

picture_file_name: 569.jpg

picture_content_type: image/jpeg

picture_file_size: 67650

picture_updated_at: 2012-04-20T09:42:40.000Z

legacy_id: 596

food_group: Vegetables

food_subgroup: Mushrooms

food_type: Type 1

created_at: 2011-02-09T00:37:49.000Z

updated_at: 2019-05-14T18:05:27.000Z

creator_id: null

updater_id: null

export_to_afcdb: false

category: specific

ncbi_taxonomy_id: 5627

export_to_foodb: true

public_id: FOOD00555