Nameko

Other Names

Butterscotch mushroom

Latin Name

Pholiota nameko

Usually Found In

Asia, especially Japan and China

Season

November to February, but available all year

This mostly cultivated mushroom, nameko looks like a mix between shimeji and golden enoki and is considered a gourmet mushroom in Asia. The toadstool lookalike has been reproduced on substrate blocks in plastic bags by Japanese companies for the last 10 years or so, but was originally cultivated on logs. Forming 21 days after the substrate is inoculated, it then swiftly grows to full size amid monitored conditions in two to three days. It is indigenous to temperate forests in Asia and grows naturally on hardwood stumps and logs, making it a good decomposer, like our friend the oyster.