Mushrooms: A Staple of the Japanese Table

An elegantly arranged dobin-mushi consisting of matsutake, shrimp, and gingko nuts steamed in dashi, with a dash of fragrant sudachi.

Fresh and dried shiitake.

Matsutake are signature autumn treats, but can be expensive to enjoy.

Maitake is recognizable by its distinct appearance.

Japanese prefer eringi with caps that have yet to fully open and are still slightly curled.

The spindly white appearance of farmed enokitake contrasts with larger, earthy colored specimens found in the wild.

Raw nameko, left, and a steaming bowl of nameko miso soup.

Kikurage come fresh, left, or dried.

Farmed varieties, left, are smaller than wild varieties, such these hatake-shimeji.