September, one corner of the garden: time to look in on the mulberry log you plugged with spawn in spring and laid down in the shade. If there's a brown mass near the cut face that won't give when you press it with a fingertip, sanghwang has taken hold. Unlike shiitake or oyster mushrooms, it never opens into a soft cap — it stays fused to the wood, hardening and adding one layer a year.
You start with spawn, not seed
Lettuce and radish you raise from seed; sanghwang you raise from spawn. Drill holes in a cut mulberry log, tap the spawn in, then lay the log down in the shade. In the Northern Hemisphere, March and April are the months for inoculating. While the mycelium works its way through the wood, months pass with nothing at all to see on the outside. Difficulty: moderate. It doesn't ask for much handling — it asks for patience.
The mycelium runs best at 25–30°C
The mycelium's preferred range is 25–30°C, and it will grow anywhere between 10 and 35°C. So it pushes inward through the summer heat and stalls out from late fall onward. The conk stays attached to the wood right through winter. Plan this on the calendar you'd use for a crop planted and harvested inside a single year and the numbers won't line up. A log that dries out completely stops the mycelium in its tracks, so keep it in shade out of direct sun and check only that it hasn't gone dry. Mushrooms don't flower, so there's no day length to match either.
September to November — cut only the year's layer
In the Northern Hemisphere the harvest window runs from September to November. Use a saw or a heavy knife and cut just above the point where the mushroom grips the wood. The top of the conk is black and cracked; the underside is covered in yellowish pores. Those pores are the fine openings the spores come out of, so one look at the back tells you what you have. Don't take your harvest straight to the pot — dry it, then slice it thin. It's full of woody fiber, so it stays tough even dried rather than crumbling. The log will push up a fresh layer next year, so instead of taking everything at once, harvest only the layer that grew this season.
Check the scientific name on the package
Several species in the genus Phellinus circulate under the single name sanghwang. Analyses report that the compound profile differs from species to species, so the name alone won't tell you what's going into your pot. Whether you're buying spawn or dried slices, look first at the scientific name printed on the package. Korea and China are the main producers, and it's cultivated in Japan as well.
Simmer it long and drink only the liquid
This isn't a mushroom you stir-fry or dress as a side dish. Put the dried slices into cold water, and once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer gently. The tissue is hard and woody; a short steep pulls out no color at all. When the water turns a reddish brown, lift the solids out. That color and the astringency both come from phenolic compounds. If the astringency comes on too strong, split a jujube, add it near the end, and boil briefly to bring in a little sweetness. Simmering roasted barley or dried Solomon's seal root (dunggulae) alongside lays a nutty, toasted aroma over the top. Once it has cooled, keep it in the refrigerator and drink it within a day or two.
- Simmering: start in cold water, drop to low heat once it boils, keep it going a long while, and strain when the liquid runs reddish brown.
- Jujube: split it, add it late, boil briefly.
- Roasted barley and Solomon's seal root: simmer together to cover the astringent finish.
On composition, analyses have repeatedly identified polysaccharides — beta-glucan among them — in the fruiting bodies of Phellinus species. The same work found that the profile shifts with species and growing substrate. These are analyses of compound composition and have nothing to do with preventing or treating disease. Ergosterol, which forms part of the cell membrane, is another sterol present in mushrooms.
The Vegetables section (菜部) of the Dongui Bogam lists 桑耳, "mulberry ear," meaning a mushroom grown on mulberry, and notes 桑黃 as an alternate name. It calls the nature neutral while adding that some call it warm, and describes the taste as sweet, with slight toxicity. It's a short entry, and what the old medical texts recorded differs from what we conclude today. Since there's a record of toxicity, better to simmer it weak and sip a little at a time than to knock back several strong cups.
Today, turn over the log you inoculated in spring. If there's a spot where even a fingernail's worth of layer has set, write the date on a label and hang it beside that spot. Next year you'll be able to compare how many more layers have stacked up in the same place.
Source: Dongui Bogam, Vegetables section (菜部), 桑耳
