Vegetables · FFET10437
Wood ear fungus
Wood ear fungus is gelatinous when fresh, brittle when dried, and commonly sold dried.
CanonVegetablesWood ear fungus is an edible fungus that grows on dead hardwood, with ear-shaped bodies that are gelatinous when fresh and brittle when dried. It is commonly sold dried and soaked before cooking. It is cultivated across China, with Dongning in Heilongjiang and Wangqing in Jilin serving as important northeastern production centers.
What
Wood ear fungus, Auricularia heimuer, is an edible fungus that grows on dead hardwood. Its fruiting bodies are ear-shaped, gelatinous when fresh, and brittle when dried.1,3
When
A sixth-century farm manual mentions wood ear growing beneath tree roots in a dish entry and says that the kinds that are not black are usable. This records historical culinary use of wood ear, but does not establish that it refers to the species now called Auricularia heimuer. A later herbal text also preserves comments by a Tang physician on wood ear and its cultivation.2,3
Where
Wood ear fungus is cultivated across China. Important northeastern production areas include Dongning in Heilongjiang and Wangqing in Jilin; other producing regions include Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Hubei.1,4,5
How
Wood ear fungus is commonly sold dried and soaked before cooking. Dongning used log cultivation in the early 1990s and began shifting to bag cultivation in the mid-1990s, using materials such as sawdust, corncobs, and cottonseed hulls. Wangqing also uses bag cultivation, including in organized growing parks.1,3,4,5
Why
Wood ear fungus is distinctive for its ear-like shape and its change in texture: gelatinous when fresh and brittle when dried. Historical descriptions of wood ear also pay attention to color and softness, but these cannot be directly equated with modern species classification.1,2,3
Impact and influence
A 2021 report gives Dongning's 2020 wood ear output as 41,000 metric tons; a 2025 report gives Wangqing's 2024 output as 35,000 metric tons. These are regional figures. The 2025 report also describes geographical indication protection and a certification mark for Wangqing wood ear, which refers to that regional product rather than wood ear fungus as a whole.4,5