Wood Ear Mushroom refers to a tree ear fungus. It’s sometimes marketed as wood ear mushroom, or black fungus. Wood ear has a very mild flavor; it’s mostly revered for its crunchy texture, making it excellent for hot and sour soup, siu mai, water dumplings, and some stir-fry dishes. Wood ears are always sold dried in packages, and need to be reconstituted with hot water before using. Commercially, they are available whole or shredded. I always get the whole ones because they can be easily reconstituted with water and cut into thin strips or whatever the shape called for in the recipes.
