Dragon Eyes, Cloud Ear Fungus and Such

Dragon Eyes, Cloud Ear Fungus, White Rot, and so on . . .don't let these colorful phrases scare you off! The Chinese tend to give all kinds of things interesting names--not just their fruit (including Dragon Eyes) and mushrooms (including Cloud Ear Fungus and White Rot).

Dragon Eyes - Longan - just about eyeball size

But let me back up to some confusion last week when Olga, Keri Ann and I went to a restaurant that served us some delicious eggplant, potato, and mushroom dishes. We ordered the mushroom dish first, asking for "mogu" and being told they didn't have any "mogu." We were so disappointed. We had our hearts set on the mushroom dish. But the restaurant refrigerator stood an arm's length away from our little table, and we could see a plastic bucket through the glass door that contained something that looked like mushrooms. Ah! Those! Yes! We could have a dish with those, but those were not "mogu." So, when I later asked my tutor Xiaodan to explain why the waiter didn't understand "mogu," I learned that there are scores of names for mushrooms, and "mogu" is only one kind--even if that's the word most Chinese dictionaries give for mushrooms in general.

As Xiaodan and I talked, we started exploring the pictures and names of the various kinds of mushrooms I've been eating for a year and a half (pictures to follow)--but one thing led to another and we found ourselves viewing Xiaodan's favorite documentary--a must see for all those foodies out there--"A Bite of China."

Any part of this seven-episode 2012 documentary about food in China will mesmerize you--the photography is stunning and the history is amazing. The scale of things, as usual, is off the chart--the sheer number of plants, animals, fungi and other organisms--and the thousands of years of experimentation with them and the variety of geographical settings for harvesting them. The English version of the documentary is here: http://english.cntv.cn/special/a_bite_of_china/homepage/index.shtml

But back to the mushrooms. "Mogu" are what many Westerners first picture when they think of mushrooms, but they're a little more expensive than their darker spotted cousins "xianggu."

xianggu    en.wikipedia.org

Here are more mushrooms, from the wonderfully cheap jing zhong gu, widely available. . .
(screenshot of photo on bostonfoodandwhine.com)

To the astronomically expensive and rare songrong (which I've never had).
(screenshot from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsutake

The documentary showed these and many more varieties of mushrooms being harvested and cooked, but also talked about scores of other foods including lotus root. 

Of course, everyone knows what the beautiful lotus flower looks like, and if you've lived in China for more than a week you've probably eaten some lotus root. As for me, I just bought some from my vegetable man an hour and a half ago, partly because I like the crunch it gives other vegetables that go soft when cooked (tomatoes, eggplant, and so on), partly because I think it's pretty when sliced, and partly because it's fairly nutritious. I didn't realize, though, the challenge of harvesting lotus root from muck that might be as thick as half-formed concrete without breaking apart the lotus root, which grows like beads on a string.

Screenshot of image on www.flowerpicturegallery.com

One way to slice lotus root (can also be diced into little bits)
Hungrypassport.blogspot.com

So, I was reminded of this fascinating film when having lunch with my linguist buddy at the school cafeteria on Wednesday. I noticed something mixed in with my peppers and other vegetables that was a bit like a bottle-brush-shaped noodle. Lots of little bottle brush things played peek-a-boo through the vegetable medley. Maybe another kind of mushroom. Those! My friend stood up and pointed to two places on her lower back, about where I'd expect kidneys, but these did not look like any kidney I'd ever seen. I'm still not sure if they were kidneys and, if so, from what animal.

That somehow prompted my friend to pull out her surprise--she'd brought me a gift--a bag of delicious Dragon Eyes (or Longan). I thought I'd had them before, thinking they were Lychees, but I hadn't. (Indeed, Longan and Lychees are similar but apparently not exactly the same.) Such delicious little sweet and sour fruit. And so aptly named.