During service on a busy Saturday night, a customer commented on the Tom Yum Gung soup that he had just eaten. His comment was that our recipe used button mushrooms instead of straw mushrooms, which are traditionally used in Thailand. At the time I was extremely busy and failed to respond beyond a smile to his critique.

After service I told my wife about the customer’s comments. Her reply was perfect, “only canned straw mushrooms in brine are available in Australia”. And thus the brine spoils the taste of the soup; fresh is always best.

Canned Straw Mushrooms from Thailand

We have previously used oyster mushrooms in our Tom Yum Gung but customers told us they prefer the taste of button mushrooms.

Fresh Button Mushrooms

Straw Mushrooms

Following a Google search for straw mushrooms, I was surprise to find that the variety is not grown in Australia because is closely resembles the toxic Death Cap mushroom.

Death Cap Mushrooms

This excerpt is taken from an article on the website Get Farming.

“The Death Cap may be confused with other, edible mushrooms such as the Straw Mushroom used in Asian cuisine.

All parts of the Death Cap are deadly if eaten, with one cap sufficient to kill a healthy adult. Initial symptoms of stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea may occur between 6 and 24 hours after eating.

There is no full antidote for the mushroom’s toxin. Once eaten, survival depends on early recognition and treatment.”

Tom Yum Gung Soup

So now I can say with confidence that we only use fresh mushrooms in our Tom Yum Gung soup and promise not to poison our regulars.

Enjoy fresh

Posted: Monday, June 7th, 2010 @ 11:22 pm
Categories: About Thai Food.
Tags: best thai restaurant Newtown, button mushrooms, chedi, chedi restaurant, mushrooms in tom yum gung soup, straw mushrooms, Sydney Thai, thai, Thai recipes, tom yum gung soup.
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