I'm like 90% sure this is the same a friend told me people used to eat "like chicken". I took some large pieces with me and fried them up. They tasted horrible. (edit: not toxic horrible, just funky and leathery)
this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2025
106 points (99.1% liked)
Mycology
4896 readers
1 users here now
founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
You also have to harvest them early enough in their lifecycle. If you get to them too late they don't taste great.
I prepared some three weeks ago and it was really good! Maybe yours were too old or not cooked long enough before frying them?
I did not cook them before frying them! And yeah they might have been too old.
You did not fry them, otoh? Cooked in water and did not use the water? Did they really taste like chicken?
I cocked them for 12 minutes in salted water, then added breadcrumbs + spices and fried them in a pan.
I didn't eat real chicken for years, so I can't compare side-by-side, but I'd say that the texture is really close and the flavor resembles chicken in a way, yes.
That's where you went wrong. Your not supposed to cock them.
Then, why would I want a substitute for chicken in the first place?
I've eaten this species many times and liked it every time. But it also depends on what tree species it grows, because iirc some conifers or oaks make it inedible or even slightly toxic.
I probably got it from some sort of pine tree, that could've had an impact on the taste.
Such a gorgeous species!
We were lucky enough to have a bloom by our house and I cleaned them, cut them and pan fried them with butter. Truly delicious, intense chickeny flavor and great texture. Would actually prefer to eat them over chicken, but they are so hard to cultivate and very unpredictable as to when to find them.
that's not a chicken