For this issue, we followed Shinobu Okumura, founder of Mingei Okumura, on a journey through Yunnan’s mushroom mountains―wandering markets, tasting mushrooms of every shape and color possible, and meeting the people who live among these quiet teachers of the forest. From Kunming to Dali, Lijiang to Shangri-La, we encountered a landscape where nature and culture blur beautifully.
At Kunming’s 24-hour mushroom market, baskets overflowed with Ganbajyo, the speckled green mushroom that bruises blue when handled and carries a rich, dashi-like aroma. Nearby sat the Milky Orange mushroom that releases a white sap when cut, and the Blue-Staining Bolete, whose vivid color warns cooks to handle it with care―dangerous raw but delicious once properly cooked. Jizong mushrooms, smoky and meaty yet notoriously hard to wash, lay piled high like tangled roots of the forest floor. Traders polished each cap to a gleam, their stalls glowing like galleries of forest art.