Wood Ear

Botanical name - Auricularia auricula
Japanese Name - Kikurage
Chinese Name - Mu Er / Wood Ear
English Name - Jews Ear / Judas’Ear

Wood Ear grows throughout Europe, Asia and the United States and is highly valued in Asian cooking for its crunchy, rubbery texture. A type of jelly fungus, it produces fruiting bodies that are translucent, brown in colour and ‘ear’ shaped, hence its Chinese name ‘Wood Ear’.

Both A. auricula and A. polytricha (Mao Mu Er ‘Hairy Wood Ear’, or Yun Er ‘Cloud Ear’) are considered as species of Mu Er in Chinese medicine and today are used interchangeably.