A closer view of the ‘kulat taun’ collected and sold by Lada. — Photo by Conny Banji
KANOWIT (Jan 8): The occurrence of heavy rain and thunderstorms over Nanga Ngungun resettlement here two days ago signalled the time for Lada Manja to check the trail to her paddy farm for ‘kulat taun’ (yearly fungus).
On the back of her experience, the 63-year-old farmer knew that this type of mushroom, known by its scientific name of ‘Termitomyces aurantiacus’, would emerge right after such weather phenomenon.
“It produces a sweet fragrance. I was walking along the trail leading to my paddy farm when I noticed that smell.
“Upon looking down, there was a troop of ‘kulat taun’,” she told The Borneo Post recently.
Lada said following this find, she cancelled the plan to attend to her paddy farm to collect the mushrooms, said to grow only once a year in a specific area after a thunderstorm – hence, the name.
That day, she managed to bring home some 2kg of ‘kulat taun’, which she sold to other longhouse residents for RM10 for every 100gm pack.
“They’re selling like hotcakes, because everyone here knows the wonderful taste of this wild mushroom if compared to other varieties.
“The ‘kulat daun’ makes a really nice soup. The simple recipe is to boil water in a pot, add in salt, MSG and the mushroom.
“Let it simmer for eight to 10 minutes, and it’s ready to eat,” she said.
In a research paper on ‘Documentation of Inherited Knowledge on Wild Edible Fungi from Malaysia’ by F Abdullah and Prof Rusea Go from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), published in the international journal ‘Blumea 54th Edition’ in 2009, it acknowledged the large golden termite fungus as being quite commonly found in Peninsular Malaysia, but only in small quantities at any given time.
“The people who collect this mushroom from UPM campus sites do not know its proper name, apart from a type of ‘cendawan busut’ (mound mushroom), but they know it is edible because of the presence of the pseudorhiza when the fungus is pulled.
“Its salient features include the large, ochraceous orange, easily splitting fruiting body.
“Surprisingly, this fungus is known to the Iban community in the interiors of Sarawak as ‘kulat tahun’ (annual fungus) which appears to be a Malay name in origin.
“Interestingly, some Malays in Peninsular Malaysia refer to T. heimii as ‘kulat tahun’, which seems to indicate identification of members of the genus Termitomyces, rather than the species names,” said the research.