June 24, 2012

Okky Nameko/オッキーなめこ

Okky Nameko is one of my favorite mushrooms. It's a new type of nameko produced by Sugawara Reizou Co., Ltd. (Japanese only), located in Yamagata, using culture medium containing plant collagen. Obviously, its greatest feature is its size, and the manufacturer says even its stem tastes good. 
Note: I'm not sure how to spell オッキー in English. The spelling Okky is tentative. 
オッキーなめこは好きなきのこのひとつです。山形県にある菅原冷蔵株式会社が、植物性コラーゲンを含む培地を使って製造する新しいタイプのなめこです。見て分かる通り、最大の特徴はその大きさで、またメーカーでは、茎まで美味しいと言っています。 


The other day, I bought two packs. 
先日、２パック買いました。

I just put it in miso soup, together with diced silken tofu. 
さいの目に切った絹豆腐と一緒に味噌汁に入れました。 Edited to add a photo: 写真を追加： Before the advent of Okky Nameko, nameko this size was of large size. オッキーなめこが登場する前は、このサイズのなめこが大きいサイズでした。
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6 comments:

  1. Ruminating RoyJune 24, 2012 at 12:48 PM

    Those are quite large! Nameko are one of my wife's favorite additions to misosiru, so hopefully soon someone will import or license these to the US.

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  2. HiroyukiJune 24, 2012 at 8:11 PM

    Ruminating Roy: I just added another photo.

    At present, Sugawara Reizou is the only manufacturer in Japan that produces Okky Nameko.

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  3. SissiJune 25, 2012 at 12:31 AM

    I have never tasted this mushroom (apparently nameko in general can be bought canned but the taste must be much worse...). It sounds delicious.

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  4. Fräulein TrudeJune 25, 2012 at 4:41 AM

    Sadly we don't have so many different kinds of mushrooms in our shops. In Japan there are lots of wood consuming mushrooms in commercial use which are nearly unknown here. I researched a little and found okky nameko are a japanese variety of the family of Strophariaceae named Pholiota nameko (bot. lat.). We have a german name for these mushrooms too but they don't sell them that often. In german they are called "tiny golden caps". They can be easily raised on birch chunks as described on german mushroom farming websites. I wonder if I should order some breed for my mushroom garden as shown in this picture http://www.shiitake.de/infos_allg/nameko/nameko_stamm.jpg.

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  5. HiroyukiJune 25, 2012 at 6:54 AM

    Sissi and Kiki: Nameko is slimy, so I have no idea whether you will like it or not.

    Kiki, thanks for the link. My father-in-law grows nameko in the same way. If left to grow, nameko can become very huge. We were once given such huge ones. They were still edible but didn't look very appetizing.

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  6. Fräulein TrudeJune 27, 2012 at 2:02 AM

    They are related to another small variety which I do know very well. I guess I will like them. The small ones are slimy too but have a nice flavour.

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