Lobster Mushroom Chowder- Forage and Cook- Forest to Table

In this video, Aaron Hilliard, Vice President of the Kitsap Peninsula Mycological Society and former chef takes us on an adventure from forest to table to find and identify Lobster Mushrooms (Hypomyces lactiflorum) and take them back to the kitchen to make some amazing Lobster Mushroom Chowder.
Lobster Mushrooms are renowned the world over for their amazing seafood-like taste and beautiful color. They're actually a combination of two different fungi, a host and a parasite. I know, sounds freaky, but it makes for an amazing edible delicacy! The host is a pretty plain and boring mushroom known as the "short-footed Russula, Russula brevipies," a large and somewhat boring mushroom that's pretty common in most temperate places in the world. There is actually though to be 4 different varieties of the host mushroom. These that grow in he Pacific Northwest and large and pretty boring with decurrent gills, a concave cap, and a short stipe. When the host mushroom is parasitized by a secondary fungi known as Hypomyces lactiflorum, it then transforms the bulky and somewhat boring host into a vibrant and delicious edible culinary delicacy. The host is plenty edible on its own, but its missing the seafood-like flavor and beautiful coloring of the Lobster Mushroom.
Finding these mushrooms can be a challenge but once the correct habitat is found they stand out against the forest background due to their beautiful and bright coloring. In this video Aaron hopes to describe and show you the correct habitat, how to forage and sustainably harvest them, how to clean them and prepare them into one of the finest mushroom chowders you have ever tried.
In the video Aaron collects the mushrooms into a net foraging bag after cleaning them up with a brush/knife combo. The link is right here for the knife and bag-
amzn.to/43ZBkM4
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[@HollerHunter]

Yes more catch and cook! Loved this one.

[@timhaywood1100]

Definitely more recipes and cooking after foraging. I'm sure many of us here are long time foragers and to be honest I already know a lot of what is discussed here about habitat, foraging, and species that are commonly found in the PNW. Having a cooking segment in your content would go a long ways towards keeping my interest and I could learn some things I don't already know. That said, I love your vlog, have been a subscriber for a couple of years now and try to watch each episode and give a like. Keep up the great work!

[@mushroomwonderland1]

That is so kind, I appreciate your feedback! I agree with you, some people probably get bored with the repetitive habitat and species of the pnw, and although there's new subscribers everyday who have never heard this information I need to keep it interesting for those of us who are getting bored with the same old mushroom information! I do love cooking, and I like making videos, it just takes twice the effort so it would really help if this channel could support me fully eventually so I could put in the time to do things like that!

[@meyou8407]

If you do videos like this PLEEEAAASE include the recipe in the notes. Love it!

[@sarahhudson8942]

Love watching you cook what you forage.

[@Raymond-cy6dq]

I liked your cooking and the recipe. It completes the foraging experience.

[@daviskoier6853]

Yes please, more cooking. I am not sure if we have lobster mushrooms here in Vermont, but we do have chanterelles which we cook with. I enjoy your foraging and thank you for bringing us along.

[@CMZWBC]

LOVE THE COOKING VIDEOS! I’m super into cooking and want to learn more recipes using mushrooms

[@valleyofthemoon7113]

Oh wow ! Great recipe Aaron , thank you ! 👍😁❤️

[@naturallynorthwest9748]

Well done! I think my favorite videos are the forage to feast. It's epic to see what other foragers make with their spoils. That looks incredible and I'm def making a chowder with my next lobsters!

[@terrymayberry]

Great timing! I found my first patch of lobsters yesterday!! We were so excited. Thanks for all the great content. Your videos keep me motivated to stay out there looking.

[@maryland510]

Making this tonight. Found our first lobsters yesterday!!!! Very impressed that you’re clearly an experienced cook as well as a smart mushroom mentor!

[@celecoxibnonsteroidal5659]

Sweet man we just found a massive lobster on an evening stroll here in the Olympics. love the local content, keep it coming!

[@juliaalsirt9951]

Recently had my first foraging experience and lucky enough to bring home enough lobster mushrooms to try your chowder recipe. I’m obsessed!!! It was incredible!!! Thank you for sharing your expertise!🍄

[@sirseal2424]

Love it! Mushroom cooking is the best!

[@billlumberg5746]

Looks scrumptious want to make some now!

[@michelleruhl3875]

Yes I would love to see how you find and prepare your mushrooms. Thank you

[@mikePNW]

Awesome! Keep the cooking videos coming.

[@yukigatlin9358]

Mmmm... Lobster Mushroom Chowder!✨😋Wonderful to be able to cook the mushrooms we find in the woods, isn't it? Over the years, we have seen many Lobster Mushrooms in a day when we found none of Chanterelles!😆 We didn't know what to do with them then, left them alone... Now that we know they are edible, we would love to find them next time we are in our favorite woods, and make a tasty chowder...😋✨💗Thank you, Mushroom Wonderland, I hope more people keep supporting your channel!!😘✨

[@nessao3396]

Beautiful chowder!🦞🍄

[@francesscherz8720]

I absolutely love watching your mushroom and cooking videos! Please make another one soon🍄❤🍄

[@corinnekelleher3178]

Would definitely love to see more videos of dishes you make with your mushroom haul. 👍🏻 Thanks for the great content!

[@EricSBleicher]

Great idea to use this mushroom for chowder! Thanks for the great vids

[@kevinnolastname2220]

That's awesome, I wish I could find some around greys harbor. Sounds and looks amazing! I vote for more forage to fork videos

[@c0athanger]

Head out to some of the camp grounds of 101, by the coast. I had some friends who found a bunch out there!

[@jamesgriffin7711]

Great simple recipe. Keep cooking, please.

[@jodylarson]

I'm on the hunt for them - have yet to find one. Maybe this weekend on the hunting adventure. :)

[@masamunesword]

If you like the taste of parsley in a dish that has mirepoix like this, one trick I learned recently is to finely chop your parsley stems and add them in with the mirepoix. Less waste and it adds a nice additional layer of parsley flavor without being overwhelming.

[@miikesternberg6947]

Well done. Ill try it as soon as they pop around here.

[@steverichter9525]

Yes, more cooking mushrooms please. The other reason we like mushrooms so much!

[@audra7908]

❤ Thank you for this. I really appreciate what you do I'm in Northeast Georgia and love to go and file mushrooms. And you have taught me a lot. Thank you!

[@ryanpebbles1731]

I made a lobster tail.mushroom bisque, delicious! That looks amazing

[@nevi108]

I love the forage, clean and cook videos! 🥳🥳🥳 thanks Aaron!

[@Angel-fs6zl]

i loved this video!! thanks for keeping it vegetarian!

[@mrpipestache2423]

Love this video! Just got a mesh bag and hoping I can snag some lobsters before they go for the season! Thanks for the recipe!

[@DBauer-oe8yo]

Nailed It!!!! Nicely done. Look forward to your Matsutaki episode

[@sherilegacy8870]

So awesome! Thank you for this!

[@direction09]

I love your videos Aaron. This is a great one. You keep it so real. Can't wait to try this recipe. Keep on!

[@gabrielapetunia1871]

Really great video!

[@kristiecox7350]

Loved this!! Really like how you took us foraging and then cooked. Num

[@zachcain2639]

Love the cooking content!

[@donnacovel4460]

Love the cooking video. My stomach is growling and mouth is watering! 🤤 I'll have to settle for oyster mushrooms on toast. ✌️

[@Sawyer548]

I really appreciated your cooking video and would definitely like to see more as well. Keep up the good work. ❤

[@beritschroeder5619]

Can't wait to try this.

[@stevenorcutt2099]

Ill need to try this recipe next summer!! That looks delicious!

[@dalecress9774]

For those that are gluten free instead of making a roux with the flour to help thicken try reserving 1/4 cup of cold half and half and add 2 tblsp of corn starch mixing it in with a fork or wisk then add that to the chowder when it is getting really hot or a low boil to thicken the chowder

[@mushroomwonderland1]

Good tip! That's becoming a lot more common these days.

[@arlanjohnson8841]

Awesome video and I love to cook as well. I’ve been out foraging and scouting for deer season and have found lots of the Russula Brevipes but none have been parasitized to create the lobster. Last time out I noticed the Russula’s were melting/dissolving and also had little capped mushrooms on top of them. Again great videos!

[@mushroomwonderland1]

Cool! The little mushrooms growing off of the Russulas were probably Astrophora lycoperdoides, the parasitic powder cap, very interesting mushroom imo. Good luck out there! Mush Love❤️🍄

[@pjreads5014]

I've found lobster mushrooms, but haven't known what to do with them. This video was great!

[@toddmutchler7800]

Great video Aaron.

[@sopheap4177]

"Jarlic"? Love it! 😂

[@jjaddict]

Always cook more!! Great vid

[@goofoffbert]

Very much .. I had to seek this one out - now I going to make this chowder!

[@tialee4671]

Find and cook. Yes👍

[@DoubleADay]

I use a potato brush with soft bristles to clean mushrooms

[@samcarrs]

Just found me several pounds today up here in Anacortes. Cheers buddy!

[@robertemmenegger6716]

Hypomyces Lactiflorum is actually a parasitic fungus that attacks and existing mushroom. This is what turns a bland inedible mushroom such as Lactarius or Russula species into a Lobster. When one learns where and what time of year these two species fruit, one can then find the Lobster among them.

[@ladinark1672]

More cooking videos!

[@brianfrankowski]

How do you know which mushrooms to cook in a dry pan, which ones to cook with fat, and when to add salt? I've heard so many different things and gotten a lot of mixed results, so it's got to be mushrooms dependent. Is there a rule of thumb? Love the catch and cook videos!

[@dannilleemckever-bradshaw21]

Have you ever thought about adding razor clams to the recipe? As I'm sitting here eating some baked razor clams from yesterday's dog and had been up in the Olympics yesterday finding my first lobster mushrooms and 1 cauliflower. I'm definitely making this chowder recipe tomorrow having cauliflower tonight.

[@mushroomwonderland1]

That's a great idea, sounds amazing!

[@chasmai8423]

wholesome

[@steiner1942]

That was beautiful. Can you list the different mushroom that get parasitized and don't necessarily become lobsters?

[@mushroomwonderland1]

Thank you, Hypomyces is a group of fungi that parasitizes a lot of different mushrooms, but not in a desirable way like these ones. Some boletes get parasitized but it's more like rotting than making them better.

[@steiner1942]

@@mushroomwonderland1 thanks, you mentioned a nature dye usage too. Is it the orange/yellow color you'd suspect of something wild like blue/indigo/green?

[@morgankruse4666]

Try doing a lobster roll, works really well if you have any vegans in the family

[@catherinexie6119]

At 8:11: are those brown dots/paths in the cut normal to see inside of lobsters? I once tried to removing them just in case they were worm holes, and didn't end up with much flesh left.

[@jodylarson]

Aaron - you said never eat any raw mushroom but does that also go for the store bought buttons? Sometimes I throw them in a salad straight from fridge.

[@mushroomwonderland1]

That is true. I'm sure a little bit over the long run won't hurt you, but the common grocery store button mushroom Agaricus bisporus, contains a known carcinogen that easily breaks down when cooked, it also has a substance called chitin around the cell wall of the fungi that renders any nutritional value indigestible by humans. So you're not getting the nutritional benefits of the mushrooms, and potentially exposing yourself to harmful carcinogens over the long run. I grew up eating white button mushrooms and salads and I don't think I'm any worse for the wear but it's a great idea to cook all mushrooms.

[@momsmushroomsjodyfoster5786]

And you talk about where to look for Lobster? As far as the type of trees they grow near? Also it looks like warm weather since your in shorts? Thx

[@mushroomwonderland1]

I have other videos that get more into habitat,please take advantage of them. The catch and cook part was kind of the emphasis of this video. I released a video all about lobster picking last month.

[@DoubleADay]

You are getting very lucky with not to many worms in them

[@your_eulogy2688]

Gotta get em earlier, man.

[@xbhendrix]

A mushroom shrump occurs when a forager cuts off the edible portion of a mushroom and what is left is a tree stump like, inedible cut portion or 'shrump' growing in its substrate.... I am learning stuff today!

[@gabrielapetunia1871]

A shrump is when there is a bump in the ground and underneath a mushroom is pushing up the dirt.

[@xbhendrix]

Why thank you Gabriela. Maybe what I mean is shump. @@gabrielapetunia1871

[@marty-gd7ol]

we dont have these in Denmark unfortunately, really really want to taste them! can you dry them ?

[@donEvans27]

Tip of the day: a darker roux has less binding power (thickening).

[@mushroomwonderland1]

Really? I've always heard the opposite. The longer you cook the roux the less thickening powder but the more flavor. Interesting.

[@donEvans27]

@@mushroomwonderland1 I’ve done the experiment and it is true. Did you know that heat decreases caffeine? Heat the bean, lose caffeine. Science rocks 😆

[@user-pu5vd1hw4v]

Cook more.

[@2flight]

umm but needs a little wine!

[@meldeweese6875]

What State ? Time of yr ? Any poisonous " look alike ".? Thanks. Mtn Mel in W. Colo. , Ret USN SERE/ VN.

[@mushroomwonderland1]

This is Washington State, three days ago, there really are no look-alikes but it's tough to answer that question with certainty because what some people think is a look-alike, other people would think look completely different. But for all intents and purposes I would say no there are no look alikes. The only thing that's that bright orange would be a chicken of the woods, which is equally edible. Thanks for watching

[@TheTubejunky]

Never had them and desperately would like to try them. Just don't trust outdoor insects and parasites (bad ones).

[@KKMitchell888]

No washing mushrooms!!!

[@Not_Qwake]

Outdated

[@karikay7065]

Outdated?! Having worked as a Commercial Chef/Catering Chef in SF Bay area and Oregon for many, many decades, I know that if you wash mushrooms and do not allow them to dry, anything you make will have a larger % of water and the mushrooms ooze their precious juices and become rubbery. Same rule goes for adding salt (NaCl) while sauteing. Salt will make mushrooms ooze and lose their liquid. If your mushrooms are growing mold on them, they may be washed with hot water but then they must be thoroughly dried before sauteing. Adding tap water to mushrooms is different from the mushrooms enjoying natural rain water because the mushrooms will retain any minerals or toxins in the water; They are like a sponge. If you are going to pickle mushrooms in jars and you want to sterilize them, add boiling water with vinegar and that will kill any mold after washing. @@Not_Qwake

[@robertoveson3688]

Can't find anything these days. WAY too many people out there

[@SkyfallLotus]

Can't wait to see more of these videos! Going to try this when I get some lobsters next. Made bisque last year, going to make this this year!