In pine forests, preferably on warm western and southern slopes, you can sometimes find cauliflower-like structures that can be as big as a football or even larger. This is not an exotic bath sponge, but rather the sought-after curly mother hen. This parasitic fungus has many uses in the kitchen, but needs to be cleaned thoroughly. The characteristic, intense aroma is intensified by drying, which is why you should preserve the Krause Glucke individually if possible and not together with other mushrooms - their taste drowns out everything else.
How to dry the Krause Hen?
To dry the Krause Hen properly, clean it thoroughly and cut it into thin pieces, max. 5 mm in size. Dry the pieces in the oven at 50-70 °C, with a fan and an open door gap, for approx. 5 hours until they are unbendable and brittle.
Where can you find the curled mother hen?
The curled hen (Sparassis crispa), also known as the fat hen, is one of the coral mushrooms that are named this way for a reason: they have a special shape that is outstanding in the mushroom world. Dense, curly to wavy mushroom leaves form the surface of the cauliflower-like mushroom. When young, the Krause Hen must be firm and almost white. Older specimens - recognizable by their dark brownish to brown color - are better left standing, they taste tough and bitter. Don't take the whole mushroom with you, just the clean, white parts and remove tough stalks in the forest. You can usually find the aromatic edible mushroom directly at the foot of pine trees between July and October, and more rarely under other conifers.
Before drying: Clean Krause Hen thoroughly
Before drying, the Krause Hen must be cleaned well, as its coils hide not only sand, earth and pine needles, but also all sorts of creatures such as beetles and snails. The easiest way to clean the mushroom is to cut it into small pieces (maximum thickness of five millimeters for drying), dust thoroughly with flour and rinse in running water. This process is repeated until the mushroom is clean. However, you must then dry the mushroom pieces thoroughly, otherwise the drying process will take too long.
How to dry Krause Hen properly – this is how it works
The washed and dried pieces of Krausen Hen should never be threaded and air dried - the moisture will always cause them to mold and spoil. It is better to dry the mushroom in the oven or in a dehydrator instead. Purchasing a dehydrator or drying oven is particularly worthwhile if you often want to dry mushrooms yourself, as well as fruit, vegetables and herbs. Drying in the oven is also quite easy, but takes a comparatively long time, around five hours. Here's how to do it:
- Heat the oven to a temperature between 50 and 70 °C.
- Set “recirculated air”.
- Place the prepared mushroom pieces on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Put this in the oven.
- Clamp a wooden spoon or something similar between the oven door and the oven.
- This allows escaping moisture to escape.
The mushrooms are sufficiently dried as soon as they can no longer be bent. Instead, they should break straight away.
Tip
The spicy Krause Glucke does not lose its aroma even when frozen.
