Snow fungus is a pale white-yellowish yet translucent fungus with a snowball-like structure. When rehydrated or wet, they become seaweed-like and the fronds tend to have jelly-like texture, often crisped at the ends. They grow on dead branches of broadleaf trees throughout Asia and subtropical regions. There are many monikers for this type of fungus: silver ear fungus, white jelly mushroom, white wood ear, tremella, etc. Used in Chinese medicine for centuries to treat ailments, snow fungus is sometimes used in savory dishes, but it is usually prepared as a sweet, dessert-style soup .
They are available fresh or dried at Chinese specialty stores or Asian supermarkets (or on Amazon.com here), but dried snow fungus is pretty common in the U.S.. If purchased dried, rehydrate snow fungus and soak for about 20-25 minutes before using. Once rehydrated, the body will change from pale white-yellowish to semi-transparent and expand to more than twice their original size – pretty cool. Remove the yellow tough parts of the fungus and break them into smaller fronds for the stew .
I absolutely loved Astig Vegan’s vegan bagoong, a salty fermented ‘shrimp paste’ version and it is available here to order at $5.99 for 4-ounce. It’s a fine condiment for any Asian dish and I love adding a spoonful to any bowl of rice. It paired really well with my Kare-Kare dish and reminded me of a fermented Asian black bean paste – slightly sweet and salty to go with anything that is not salty or rice. This veganized Filipino condiment is consisted of only fermented black soybeans, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, flax oil, canola oil and roasted nori.
There is a spicy version as well for anyone who wants spicy bagoong. Vegan Bagoong is a fabulous component in stir-fries as well as a condiment to peanut or coconut milk-based dishes (sweet and savory) such as this Kare-Kare. Additionally, it can be served as a topping for fruits or vegetables: especially tasty on green apples, green mangoes, young jicama and cucumbers. I highly recommend her product, in fact, I wish I had a gallon of it on hand – that’s how much I love this vegan bagoong .!