The much maligned mushroom, blamed, in part, for the annual air pollution as some foragers choose to burn forest floors in search of these delicacies rather than merely looking for them, is now in full season. The best part is that there are no fires lit to find them due to all of the rain, so we can gorge ourselves silly on guilt-free hed thorb to our heart’s content.
If you haven’t tried them, the official name of hed thorb is Hygroscopic Earthstar and they are often fondly called the caviar of mushrooms as they burst in your mouth as you chew them, the umami creamy filling oozing out to great delight.
The past few years there have been more novel ways of using these mushrooms, branching out from the traditional boiled versions served as a standalone dish or added to soups.
The famous sai-ua northern sausage, crammed with hed thorb can now be found at a few select restaurants and shops across the north, and you can head to Nongpan Restaurant to purchase some of this delicacy.
Nongpan Restaurant has been making sai-ua hed thorb now for over a decade, and say that they have always been very aware of the environmental implications and have always ensured that they purchase them from suppliers who forage for them without burning. A Nongpan Kositsakulchai, the 72 year old owner, says that she only makes these sai-ua once a year as she only uses the freshest of mushrooms, not those that are frozen or canned.
She currently sells them for 760 baht per kg and 1,200 baht per kg for ‘super hed thorb’ which Citylife will have to try out before reporting on how super they are.
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