Mushroom, Food From Nature
I’ve to admit that I love eating mushroom, and seeing photo of mushrooms at Darly’s post ‘Ant Eggs Soup’ brought back many childhood memories, and mushrooms were plentiful in the forest of Thailand at the time, and what I love best was that they were free, sort of like first come first serve basis; these mushrooms could be found on the ground, at old tree logs, hays, etc. One of my favorite dishes of mushroom is Gang Som Het (sour mushroom soup), but I don’t recall my mom ever put ant eggs in them like Darly’s photos which look really good. My mom also steamed her mushroom and ate with Jail (hot spicy sauce).
Like anything else, not all mushrooms are eatable; I vaguely remember that my mom would test them first before each cooking. I’d say that this was somewhat as close to a scientific way of doing things by country folks, with little or no education as it gets. She’d take a sample mushroom and boil it with white rice to see if the rice would change in color; if I remember correctly, the rice would turn yellowish in color if the mushroom was poisonous (if you’ve heard differently, please let me know; I asked my dad and sister on this past Sunday to confirm, and they all thought that’s how my mom tested her mushroom). We were very fortunate that the mushrooms that we ate weren’t poisonous mushrooms, but I think even by doing it this way, it wasn’t a full proof, and many still die each year from eating poisonous mushroom (possibly because they quit testing the mushrooms).
I do have to admit that we’ve our ancestor to be thankful for coming up with many neat gadgets and recipes that we are using today. One that I’m grateful for is Jail, spicy sauce whether it’s Jail Ga Peih (shrimp paste) or Jail Padek (sorry if it sounds like you’re the prison there Padek, your name just comes with the territory), and many more great things that have been passing down from generation to generation. They were the true pioneer of their time, leaving us many great things in life, which we’re continuing to strive to make them even better to accommodate our life style, but still have them to be thankful for paving a good and solid foundation for us. I’m thankful for the mushroom soup recipe that my mom gave us, my mom was a great cook, and one day my youngest sister hopes to create my mom cookbook to share amongst us.
The way your mother tested the mushrooms is the same way that my mother tested the mushrooms in Laos and Thailand. If the rice doesn't turn yellow then the soup was safe for us to eat.
I don't know if it's full proof but we managed to stay alive all these years from eating mushrooms.
I talked to my Grand-mama and my aunt yesterday and we were talking about mushrooms. They told me where you get the mushroom can help you figure out if it's edible or not. My aunt said they picked mushrooms formed from dead banana leaves or feung (hays) because they are safe to eat.
I think the local people just know from experience or knowledge being passed down from the older generation on what mushrooms to eat and not to eat for the most part.
I think the local would also go back to the same place that they’d pick year after year. Testing it this way must be it then for the Lao/Thai, but many of our ancestors died from eating it, and were able to warn us of what is eatable and what is not. There’s also another type of mushroom that I want to write about, it’s called Hed Kee Kail, grow from buffalo manure which has substances very similar to LSD, this is also known as Magic Mushroom.
Rice that turn yellow with or without the mushroom can't be eaten. The elders didn't explain why.
This may be a similar effects to ergot, a deadly fungi that happens to be on the rice. Human poisoning from eating rye bread made from ergot-infected grain was common in Europe in the Middle Ages . But Laos isn't the place for ergot.
I’ve mentioned that I want to write about Hed Kee Kail, grown from buffalo manure, also known as Magic Mushroom. After doing research, it took me to a territory that I’m not familiar with, so I’ll just commenting on what’ve learned.
Back in the olden day in Laos/Thailand, it was considered as just mushroom that would give you weird reaction after consuming such as hot and cold sensations, tightness in the chest area, vomiting, and hallucination; but the image of the mushroom has changed since the Western world became aware of its hidden and exotic qualities, notably the very special and fantastic `trips’ that can be experienced from eating them. Now, it is mainly being used as hallucination drugs, and can be consumed either fresh or dried. In many countries, the supreme court decided that dry magic mushrooms are illegal, because the are considered a psilocybin containing preparation (something processed by a human being), but unprocessed, fresh magic mushrooms are still legal to possess and sell.
After consuming the magic mushroom, the reaction varies from person to person, but most reported of hallucinations, (seeing objects that are not there at all) may be experienced only with a very large dose, and would last for 4-8 hours.
If you want to learn more, here is the link: http://www.magic-mushrooms.net/index.html