Wood ear mushrooms seem to be a benign food, but if you make some of the mistakes below when using them, they can produce some disease-causing toxins, potentially posing a risk of cancer.
Wood ear mushrooms are small and rough, but they are a very important spice for Vietnamese families. They are an indispensable ingredient in bamboo shoot soup, fried spring rolls, stir-fried dishes, soups... But did you know that wood ear mushrooms are not only delicious, but also very beneficial for your health?
In Oriental medicine, wood ear mushrooms are sweet and neutral, and enter the spleen, large intestine, liver, and kidney meridians. They have the effect of cooling the blood and stopping bleeding due to impact or injury. In modern medicine, wood ear mushrooms contain vitamin K, calcium, magnesium, vitamin E... Eating wood ear mushrooms in moderate doses and regularly is very good for reducing blood clots, preventing arterial occlusion due to thrombosis, helping to replenish blood, preventing iron deficiency anemia, and beautifying the skin.
Mistake 1: Soaking wood ear mushrooms in hot water
Wood ear mushrooms, also known as black fungus, often grow on dry tree trunks, rotten wood, and dampness, so the rate of mold is very high... that's why the process of soaking and washing wood ear mushrooms before eating is very important.
Wood ear mushrooms should be soaked in cold water because at low temperatures this food will gradually expand, mold and dirt will dissolve in water and be easy to clean.
On the contrary, you should not soak it in hot water because the wood ear will expand quickly and will not have much time to gradually absorb like cold water, causing the mold to not have time to dissolve in the water. In addition, wood ear soaked in boiling water will become soft, sticky, not crispy, and not delicious.