Richard Lin lovingly regards a shiitake mushroom that takes up most of his palm. He taps its domed, snow-dusted cap. “The best shiitakes have a thick, rounded cap, like an umbrella,” he said. “And they are not just brown, they have these white dots.” He turns it over, noting the way the cap curves under, forming a lip that partially obscures the pure white gills. The fat stem is pure white, too. “When you see most shiitakes at the supermarket, they are at, they are watery. That’s not what we grow here.”
“Here” is RA’s Farm, a sprawling facility at the head- waters of the Forge River in Moriches. The farm started producing shiitakes in 2017; this year it expects to harvest 30,000 pounds. Among its customers are H Mart, the Asian chain with three stores on Long Island, John’s Farms in Plainview, and J. Kings, the Holtsville-based restaurant supplier.
Lin’s goal is to become the East Coast’s largest producer of USDA-certified organic shiitake mushrooms.
The shiitake, an essential ingredient in Japanese, Chinese and many other Asian cuisines, is prized for its meaty, woodsy flavor. Fresh, it provides a heft and chew that few vegetables can match. Dried, it packs a profound umami punch: A broth made from reconstituted shiitakes is about as close as a vegetarian cook can come to a brown stock. Shiitakes are also prized for their reputed health benefits. Long a staple in traditional Chinese medicine, they are now being studied in the West for their effect on preventing cancer and high cholesterol, and boosting immunity.
The Chinese have been eating wild shiitakes for millennia and first began cultivating them about a thousand years ago. By the 18th century, Japan was cultivating them as well, and it was the Japanese who called them “shiitake” because they grew on the decaying wood of the shii tree. Up until the 1980s, Japan was the world’s main producer of Lentinula edodes (its botanical name), but now China has eclipsed Japan: It is the world’s leader in shiitake production, generating millions of tons per year. (By comparison, the United States grows about 10 million pounds, about one percent of the total mushroom production, according to the most recent figures from the USDA.)
Long Island is new to the mushroom game. The vast majority of mushrooms in the United States are grown in and around Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. An industry that grew up around the common white button mushroom, it now produces “exotics” such as shiitakes and oyster mushrooms in increasing quantity.
Of the 10 million pounds of shiitakes produced in 2017–18, roughly 10 percent were certified organic. Lin, whose three-year plan is to produce 150,000 pounds, hopes to make a dent in that market. And he has plenty of room to grow. His eight greenhouses and two barns represent 10,000 square feet of mushroom-growing space, but this is a fraction of the 38 acres he has at his disposal. Eventually, his capacity will approach 500,000 pounds.
Lin purchased the property at auction in 2014 from the bank that had foreclosed on it. Until it declared bankruptcy, the Jurgielewicz Duck Farm, founded in 1919, had been one of the largest duck-farming operations in the country, but it was plagued by complaints about the environmental damage inflicted by its mountains of duck waste. It closed in August 2011 and lay duckless and fallow for three years.
Lin was looking to start a mushroom farm. Born in Beijing, he immigrated to New York in 1991 and founded a successful import business, Northern Food, which serves Asian supermarkets and wholesalers. Now based in Westbury, the company is co-owned by his wife, Angela Wang (Richard + Angela = RA) and employs about 40 people.
Richard Lin walking through his farm in East Moriches. Credit: An Rong Xu
One of Northern Food’s most successful lines was selling organic Chinese mushrooms to Whole Foods. But then in 2013, Lin recalled, “Whole Foods told me they would not sell mushrooms from China anymore.” According to Lin, Whole Foods said its customers were wary of China’s growing methods, and the retailer was unable to verify that the mushrooms were, indeed, organic. Lin didn’t argue; he had his own doubts about production methods. So the mushroom importer decided to become a mushroom grower. (When Whole Foods was bought by Amazon in 2017, its purchasing process was reconfigured; Lin is currently in talks with the buyers.)
Shiitakes are big business in China. “There are 20 million people who work in the mushroom industry in China,” Lin said. He brought one of them, Qui Bao Zou, to Long Island, along with all the machinery and laboratory equipment needed to grow shiitakes. Zou presides over a team of four people, more at harvest.
Over the years, a few mushroom growers have popped up on Long Island, among them Long Island’s Mushroom Company of Bridgehampton and the now-defunct East End Mushroom Company in Cutchogue (2015 to 2017). But these are boutique operations that purchase premade “logs” that have been injected with mushroom seed. The logs are placed in a temperature-controlled room and, within a few weeks, presto: mushrooms.
At RA’s, the process is done from scratch, and on an industrial scale. It starts with the huge pile of logs that you see as you pull into the farm’s driveway. Originally, shiitakes were grown on dead logs, and some traditionalists still cultivate them this way, but the yield is much greater if you use a composite log made, principally, from sawdust. Lin buys felled oak trees from landscapers all over Long Island. To get the USDA’s certified organic label, the wood must not be treated with any chemical fertilizers or pesticides. In addition to the USDA, RA is certified by Oregon Tilth inspectors, whose standards are more rigorous than the government’s, and who visit the farm once a year to take samples of the wood and examine the premises. The mushrooms are also certified kosher by the Jewish dietary certification agency Star-K.
Twice a year, the wood is fed into a chipper and then blended with organic wheat germ.
This mixture goes into what is essentially a giant sausage-making machine, and what comes out the other end are foot-long “links” encased in biodegradable plastic. The links go into an enormous steaming chamber to be pasteurized, then they are inoculated with mushroom “strings.”
Producing the strings is where Zou shows his expertise. In a sterile laboratory, he extracts some pulp from the fleshiest part of the mushroom stem, thereby isolating the mycelium, a threadlike collection of cells, that act like mushroom seed. The pulp is introduced into a test tube containing potato juice, which provides the natural sugars the cells need to grow and reproduce. After 15 days, the contents of the tubes are injected into mini composite logs. After 30 days, those logs have turned white from all the spawn. They are then ground up and fed into a machine that makes four holes in each of the pasteurized logs. These inoculated logs are where many mushroom producers start. In fact, Lin plans to start selling his logs to other growers in the business.
RA’s greenhouses are filled with five-tier metal shelving. The logs are carefully laid onto the shelves and, about three months later, mushrooms will start to push their way out. Shiitakes like humidity and temperatures that range from 58 to 72 degrees, and Zou controls the rate of growth through the manipulation of temperature and moisture. In the winter, the greenhouses have no trouble achieving this sweet spot, but in the summer, only one of the greenhouses is air conditioned, and it produces the very best mushrooms; these will command a higher price.
Once the logs start producing, they must be harvested every day. Workers wearing disposable coveralls and masks make their way down each aisle, examining every log. A mushroom that is too small to pick on Monday will be too big on Wednesday. Once every mushroom is picked, the log “rests” for two weeks and gets a second wind, producing another round of mushrooms. After another rest, the log gives a final push, a third harvest. Each log can produce about 20 mushrooms in total, about one and a half pounds.
Two thirds of the mushrooms are packed into three-pound boxes and shipped out fresh to dozens of accounts in the metropolitan area. The rest are dried in one of two commercial dehydrators. It takes four to eight pounds of fresh mushrooms to make one pound of dried.
Unlike a duck farm, which produces tons (literally) of duck waste, a mushroom farm’s only waste product is the spent logs, rich in nutrients and an excellent fertilizer. At RA, the compost is used to amend the soil for a bit of casual farming—some tomatoes and other vegetables, a scraggly vineyard of Concord grapes.
Lin appreciates his home-grown tomatoes, but his focus is on the greenhouses. “We plan to add oyster mushrooms, maitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms. Shiitakes, he said, are only the beginning.
RECIPE IDEA
WOK-BRAISED SHITAKES WITH TOFU AND ROMAINE
Active time: 20 min; Start to Finish: 35 min
Recipe by Lillian Chou
This stovetop braise gets deep flavor from dried shiitakes, and lettuce adds succulence and a light crunch. Accompanied by steamed rice, it serves four to six as a side dish for plain roast chicken or broiled sh. It also makes a terrific meatless main for two to four—just add another vegetable on the side.
Wok Braised Shiitakes. Credit: Marge Perry
12 dried large shiitake mushrooms
1 (14- to 16-ounce) package firm tofu
3 romaine hearts 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil, divided
Coarse salt
1 teaspoon minced peeled ginger
1 large garlic clove, minced
1⁄4 cup Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 scallion, thinly sliced, divided
Equipment: a well-seasoned 14-inch at-bottomed wok or a 12-inch cast-iron skillet
1. Soak mushrooms in 3 cups hot water to cover (place a small saucer on top to keep them submerged) until softened, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, drain and rinse tofu, then pat dry and cut into 3⁄4-inch cubes. Cut each romaine heart crosswise into 2 or 3 pieces, then cut lengthwise into 2- to 3-inch pieces.
3. Remove mushrooms from water and squeeze, reserving soaking liquid. (If any caps are still hard, continue soaking.) Cut off stems from caps and discard or reserve for stock.
4. Heat wok over medium-high heat until smoking. Swirl in 1 tablespoon oil and add romaine (in batches, if necessary), then add 3 tablespoons mushroom soaking liquid. Season with salt and stir-fry until wilted and softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate, discarding any liquid.
5. Return wok to stove and heat until smoking. Add remaining tablespoon oil and swirl to coat, then add mushroom caps and stir-fry until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry 1 minute. Add rice wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce and 2 cups reserved soaking liquid. Gently slide in tofu and simmer over low heat, turning tofu over occasionally, until mushrooms are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Stir together cornstarch with 2 tablespoons reserved soaking liquid and stir into mushrooms. Increase heat and boil until thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in sesame oil, then scallion, reserving 1 tablespoon for garnish.
7. Remove from heat and carefully ladle mushrooms and tofu over romaine. Sprinkle with remaining scallion and serve with rice.
