Japan is one of the leading producers of shiitake mushrooms. These mushrooms are notoriously difficult to cultivate on a commercial scale — especially when using the 1,000-year-old Japanese technique of growing them on logs. In the US, indoor-grown shiitakes sell for upwards of $8 a pound, while forest-grown shiitakes have commanded a much higher price, up to $18 a pound. The most premium shiitake mushrooms are called white flower shiitake, and the forest-grown versions can sell for over $160 a pound. White flower shiitakes have noticeable white cracks on the caps and a strong flavor, but even just a few drops of rain can ruin them. Here's why forest-grown shiitake mushrooms are so expensive.
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00:00This 70-year-old company hauls in 140,000 pounds of forest-grown shiitake a year.
00:10It starts here, in the forests of the Japanese prefecture of Miyazaki.
00:17Farmers use a 1,000-year-old technique to grow the rarest of them all, white flower.
00:24Sugimoto Shiitake sells these premium caps for at least $400 per kilo.
00:31But the company says less than 1% of the mushrooms it processes are given that top-tier designation.
00:38Forest-grown shiitakes are getting harder to cultivate,
00:42and the conditions needed to produce the white flower variety are so specific that even a few drops of rain can ruin them.
00:50On top of that, the appetite for all kinds of shiitakes is decreasing in Japan, where they've historically been a staple.
00:58That's why Sugimoto and other Japanese companies are increasingly turning to a global market to future-proof their business.
01:07So what makes these forest-grown mushrooms so expensive?
01:11And can this rare Japanese shiitake make a comeback?
01:21This process is known as inoculation,
01:27and at this stage, there's no telling which sprouts will become white flower shiitake.
01:51That's how long it takes for the fungus to spread throughout the log and start sprouting harvestable caps.
01:59Each log produces mushrooms for about six years.
02:20This species of tree is not only plentiful, but apparently delicious.
02:51Forest-grown mushrooms are at the top of the shiitake hierarchy.
02:56They are more difficult and unpredictable to produce than indoor-grown, which leads to their heftier price tag.
03:03Even in the U.S., the price of forest-grown shiitakes can reach $40 per kilo,
03:09while the price of indoor-grown greenhouse shiitakes can be as high as $50.
03:15Then, there are the two main types of shiitake, based on their shape.
03:46The top-tier version of donko is called hanadonko, or white flower.
03:52That's the one that fetches that $400-per-kilo price tag.
03:59The difference between a regular donko and a white flower shiitake comes down to the cap.
04:05All donko mushrooms will have distinct cracks, but the pattern on a white flower is more dispersed, like this.
04:13But to grow any shiitake this way, conditions have to be perfect.
04:44And white flower caps can't be directly rained on at all.
04:50When water gets into those cracks on the surface, it discolors the mushrooms and decreases their value.
04:58When they're ready, workers like Naoko Kai harvest each one by hand.
05:28Traditionally, logs are left unprotected in the forest.
05:32But growers like Gaifu Sao started growing mushrooms in an outdoor structure he calls an artificial log yard,
05:39to gain some control over his environment.
05:58Even with this limited control, the recent unpredictable climate is affecting how much he can harvest.
06:04In 2010, Gaifu Sao left his life in Osaka to join his father on this shiitake mushroom farm.
06:12But a combination of his parents' aging and an increasingly unpredictable climate caused the farm's productivity to shrink again.
06:43A smaller yield means fewer white flower shiitakes, which only make up about 8% of Gaifu Sao's harvest.
07:02White flower, regular donko and gushin mushrooms are harvested all at once,
07:07loaded up in crates or bags and taken to Sugimoto's processing facility to be sorted, dried and packaged.
07:16Drying shiitakes this way actively amplifies their umami flavor.
07:38Dehydration breaks down the cell walls of the mushroom, releasing and concentrating the compounds responsible for their taste.
07:46All that flavor remains even after they're rehydrated.
07:51After the drying process, workers like Eri Iihoshi will hand-sort the shiitakes by color, shape and size.
08:12This is where she'll be able to separate the white flower from the rest of the donko.
08:21Unlike regular donko, this one has a pattern.
08:27For white flower shiitake donko, we choose the one with the most white color.
08:36We choose by color, shape and size.
08:41White flower mushrooms must be flawless.
09:03And Sugimoto is picky about the other types of shiitake the company processes too.
09:09Sorters will filter out any mushrooms that have aesthetic flaws.
09:24These mushrooms will be used in other products like the company's shiitake powder.
09:29It's used by chefs all over the world as a natural umami booster.
09:45Even though demand is slowing in Japan, the global appetite for mushrooms is steadily growing.
09:51And shiitakes in particular are sought after for their perceived health benefits.
09:58So Sugimoto has been increasingly tapping into international markets.
10:28According to the Mushroom Council, over the past decade in the U.S.,
10:36there's been a more than 100% increase in specialty mushroom sales, primarily driven by shiitake.
10:43They're so versatile. They're just so amazing and you can do so much with them.
10:48Ravi De Rossi is the co-owner of Third Kingdom, a mushroom-centric restaurant in New York City.
10:55Most of its mushrooms are sourced locally, but white flower calls for special circumstances.
11:01We get it flown in from Japan and when they have them, they'll ship us a few.
11:05We'll run it as a special. We'll invite just like some of our special regular customers and let them know what we're doing.
11:12Regular donko also shows up on the menu from time to time.
11:16Executive chef Juan Pajarito creams up the dishes like this one, prepared steak and onion style.
11:30While donko shiitakes are in season, he'll reach for them over thin koshin ones when he wants an amplified experience.
11:38A normal shiitake has a different meatiness.
11:44White flower shiitake mushroom is a little bit more meaty.
11:50The flavor is more intense, stronger than regular shiitake.
11:55That's the difference, but the unami it has is very, very different from regular shiitake.
12:04So leaning into the international market is key for companies like Sugimoto.
12:34For more information visit www.sugimoto.com