Straw mushrooms

Straw mushrooms, Volvariella volvacea, are tropical edible mushrooms grown on rice straw, named for their substrate, with a distinctive egg-to-umbrella shape when young. They are prized in Southeast Asian cooking for their delicate flavour, slippery texture, and ability to absorb the tastes of the dish, and they are usually sold canned or dried outside their growing regions since fresh ones perish within days. Like all mushrooms they must be correctly identified and sourced from reputable growers, never confused with toxic lookalikes, and canned product must come from properly processed, commercially sterile packs.