Enoki dake

Enoki dake

I have used enoki dake in my last two recipes, so I thought I'd post a pic of it just in case anyone was unsure of what it was.  It is a mushroom (dake/take is mushroom in Japanese).  You may have heard of shiitake..the take at the end means mushroom, so therefore, it is a bit redundant to say shiitake mushroom...lol.  Anyway, enoki dake is a mushroom used a lot in Japanese cooking.  It tastes great in soups and stir fries.  They do not get soft like most mushrooms.  They have a slightly crunchy texture.  My kids used to call them crunchy noodles until they figured out they were mushrooms.  You have to cut the ends off because they are usually covered in dirt and once you use them, you will realize it is difficult to separate them.  The little suckers like to stay together.  Therefore, I cut the bottoms off and then usually just cut the whole bunch in half.