Would You Eat Snow Fungus?

Last Sunday, I attended my first-ever "woahman" potluck brunch. I also ate my first-ever snow fungus. Before we get to the fungus, you may be wondering what a "woahman" brunch is. I was, too. From my friend Emily's invite:

"It’s been a goal of mine for quite some time to bring all the amazing woahman in my life together in an intimate setting to share our combined awesomeness, spunk, and zeal for life. {{shine bright like a diamond}}

But first what is a Woahman? Pronounced 'woman' as Oprah would say it, a Woahman puts the 'woah' in Woahman. It stands for:

Women
Overcoming
Adversity
Having
Mimosas
Achieving
Nonstop!

Disclaimer: this is not quite a thing but a thing I made up so just go with it."

Emily knows how to write an invite, especially for the acronym-loving among us. As it was a potluck, people brought the usual breakfast items: a mixed berry fruit salad, homemade mini quiches, not-homemade scones (me, picked up from a local bakery on the way over). Sitting between the scrambled eggs and espresso machine, I was a strange looking soup.

I inspected the slimy ingredients with a spoon. A woman standing in the kitchen walked over after noticing my intrigue.

"You should try it," she said. I must've looked unconvinced. "Look at my skin. I'm 38. I've been drinking this soup for years."

It was snow fungus soup, and the white stuff swirling around in the bowl was tremella fuciformis, or snow fungus. The soup tasted pretty flavorless, but the jelly-like texture of the fungus was a little weird. I slurped down the concoction of fungus, goji berries (which I happily recognized), papaya and dates, telling myself it was good for my skin. I followed it with a salty quiche, for good measure.

Snow fungus, it turns out, has been used in Asian medicine and skin care since the nineteenth century. The fungus gets its name from growing on the snow line of high mountains around the world. It's a botanical that produces white, gelatinous flowering bodies. Each snow mushroom can hold up to 500x its own weight in water, which makes the fungus powerful in drawing moisture to the skin. Research also shows it has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Win, win, win.

Apparently, there are many ways to get the benefits of this funny mushroom: Soup, a DIY serum mask, and even a more mainstream line of Olay moisturizers. Would you eat or use snow fungus?

(Photo via Pixabay)