Maitake Mushrooms

We tend to hear more about the well established healing and preventive qualities of maitake mushrooms than about their taste. Maitakes are also known as "hen of the woods" and they can be used to add rich flavor to broths and soups and make a great stand alone entree or side dish.

I like them a variety of ways:

Sauteed in fresh rosemary, olive oil and sea salt, they make a tasty side dish.

Steamed with broccoli raab and drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Often, we add them to Asian vegetables like bean sprouts and mustard greens. They do well stirred into most vegetable medleys. Their flavor is distinctive and adds a lot to the dish.

Steam them and break into smaller pieces and serve warm over a bed of spinach or lettuce as a salad.

Steamy stir fry them with scallions, black sesame seeds, soy sauce, a touch of sesame oil, and dark balsamic vinegar and stir into steamed rice.

For special occasions try them flash fried in unprocessed peanut oil with a sweet dipping sauce.

And, I can't resist talking about their health benefits. Maitake mushrooms contain beta glucan, a specific type of polysaccharide and have been used in many cancer studies. So far, they have been shown to boost the immune system (T-cells, NK cells and interleukins), inhibit tumor growth, and prevent normal cells from becoming cancerous. Specifically, in a New York Academy of Science research study, maitake extract has been shown to inhibit the spread of tumors in mice implanted with breast cancer. Similar results were found with liver cancer in mice. There are US studies being conducted now on its effect on breast cancer, its potential to improve the outcome when used with an antibody to treat neuroblastoma, and its potential to improve the effectiveness of a lymphoma and leukemia drug.

When our daughter had her terrible cancer and was, well on the brink of not making it to say the least, on a ventilator with pneumonia in both lungs, post stem cell transplant, maitake mushroom extract is one of the herbs that I stuck in her tubes (against the will of the doctors) and she did make a miraculous comeback. The nurses assured us many times that no one comes off a ventilator after a stem cell transplant and not to have our hopes up. And, well, she is alive an well. So, I am a fan...