An umber-brown East Asian wood-decomposing mushroom and the world's second most cultivated edible fungus.
Where it grows
Wild shiitake fruit on rotting hardwoods in the cooler highlands of East Asia. The mushroom takes its English name from the shii tree (Castanopsis cuspidata) on which it was first commercialised in Japan in the seventeenth century. Today it is grown worldwide on logs and on supplemented sawdust blocks.
How to recognise it
The cap is a velvety umber, often paler at the margin, with patches of white cottony veil remnants in young specimens. The gills are white and crowded, bruising tan with age. The stem is tough, fibrous, and usually removed before cooking.
Edibility & cautions
A choice edible with no wild look-alikes outside its native range. Always cook thoroughly: raw or undercooked shiitake can cause a striking but harmless “shiitake dermatitis” — a flagellate rash — in a small percentage of eaters.
Culinary use
Slice and stir-fry, simmer in dashi, or rehydrate dried caps for an intense umami stock. The stems make excellent broth.
Find more mushrooms by letter
Shiitake starts with S and ends with E. Browse other mushrooms along the same letter.
Mushrooms that contain a letter from "Shiitake":