Enoki

What it is

Enoki (Flammulina velutipes) are the long, thin white mushrooms with pinhead caps sold in plastic-wrapped bundles in most grocery stores. That pale, noodle-like shape comes from how they're farmed: they're grown in the dark in tall containers with high carbon dioxide, which makes the stems stretch. Wild enoki looks completely different, with short stems and orange-brown caps.

Some small US farms grow golden enoki, a shorter, amber-colored form. It's worth asking about at the market.

Taste and cooking

Enoki is mild and slightly fruity, with a crisp, stringy texture. Use it where you'd use noodles or bean sprouts.

• Trim the base. Cut off the spongy root end and pull the strands apart.
• Add it to soups and hot pots and simmer until fully hot and tender.
• Pan-fry whole bundles in oil until the edges crisp, then add soy sauce and scallions.

Always cook enoki. Some recipes add them raw at the last moment; the 2020 outbreak below is a good reason to cook them through instead.

How it's grown

Commercial enoki grows on supplemented sawdust in bottles. After colonization the bottles go into cold, dark rooms, and a paper or plastic collar around the neck forces the mushrooms to grow straight up in a tight bundle. It's a highly controlled crop, and the 2020 outbreak below involved enoki imported from overseas.

Storing it

Keep enoki in its original package in the refrigerator, and follow the use-by date. Once opened, Penn State Extension's general advice is to use fresh mushrooms within about three days. Fresh enoki is bright white and dry. Yellowing, sliminess, a wet base or a sour smell mean it's old.

Where to buy enoki

1 grower in our directory lists enoki by name@if ($ohio->isNotEmpty()), 1 of them in Ohio. Availability changes with the season and the harvest, so check with the farm before you go.

Does the science say…?

The most important research question about enoki is food safety.

• In 2020, the FDA and CDC investigated a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to enoki mushrooms imported from a single company in the Republic of Korea. Thirty-six people in 17 states became ill, 31 were hospitalized and four died. The FDA placed the supplier on import alert, and several US distributors recalled enoki products (US FDA, 2020).

The FDA's investigation page notes that South Korea's food safety ministry recommended cooking enoki before eating it, and that Listeria can survive refrigeration and spread to other foods and surfaces. Buying from a local grower doesn't change the advice to cook it, but you'll know where it came from and when it was picked.

We didn't find clinical trials showing a specific health benefit from eating enoki.