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Buy a full set of 250ml Syrups, get one bottle of wild Jizong Free
Jizongfree
Wild foraged
Jizong · Termitomyces
The perfect punch of umami, heat and texture.
Wild Jizong, with garlic and chili.
- ✔ Wild foraged, never cultivated
- ✔ Umami deep enough to carry a plain bowl of rice
- ✔ Tears into soft strands, like poached chicken
- ✔ Five ingredients, nothing artificial
Ingredients
Vegetable oil Garlic Wild Jizong mushrooms (Termitomyces) Chilli Salt That is the whole list. No preservatives, no flavour enhancers, no mushroom powder. Suitable for vegans. Refrigerate after opening and use a dry spoon.
01What is Jizong
The most delicious of wild mushrooms
Jizong is the most sought after wild culinary mushroom in South East Asia. It grows in one place only, a termite nest. Loved for it's chewy, fiberuos, chicken like textured and it's ability to transform savoury dishes Jizong is is a spicy-chewy wild mushroom that adds an explosion of umami flavour to any dish it touches. Generations of tweaking this formula have resulted in the perfect amount of heat, umami, and flavour. With chilli, fried garlic, salt and oil, the mushrooms are reduced into a condiment where every bite is crammed with flavour.
Grows only above a living termite nest
Fruits in the rainy season, and only briefly
Found and picked by hand in Shan State
02The history of Jizong
Jizong, means ant planted mushroom. Ming and Qing scholars wrote about Jizong more than any other fungus, recording where it grew, when to pick it and how to cook it.
Ming and Qing scholars wrote about Jizong more than any other fungus, recording where it grew, when to pick it and how to cook it. Yunnan sent it to the imperial court as tribute, and local officials levied it from the people who found it. Six hundred years on, it still cannot be bought from a farm.
03How to eat it
A spoonful is enough
to change a bowl.
On rice
A spoonful stirred through hot rice. This is the test.
Through noodles
Tossed in at the end, off the heat, so the garlic stays sweet.
Over eggs
Fried, scrambled, or a plain omelette that needed help.
Straight from the jar
We are not going to pretend this does not happen.
Refrigerate once opened and always use a dry spoon. Water in the jar is the only thing that will spoil it.
FAQ
What does it taste like?
Deeply savoury, with the garlic forward and the mushroom underneath it. The texture is the surprise. Jizong tears into soft strands rather than staying in slices, which is why it has been called the chicken mushroom for six hundred years.
Is it spicy?
There is chilli in it, and it is warm rather than hot. This is a savoury condiment first and a chilli oil second.
Is this a supplement?
No. This is food. Our elixirs and syrups are for a daily mushroom habit. This is for your dinner.
Does it have health benefits?
Termitomyces has been eaten as food across Yunnan, Thailand and much of Africa for centuries, and there is early laboratory research on its compounds. That is not the same as evidence of a benefit in people, so we are not going to build a claim on it. Buy this because it tastes extraordinary.
Why does it cost more than other chilli oils?
Because the mushroom in it cannot be farmed. It fruits for a few weeks a year, above termite nests, and has to be found on foot. The jar is priced by what it takes to fill it.
How do I store it?
In the cupboard until you open it, then in the fridge. Use a dry spoon every time. The oil will thicken when cold, which is normal, and it loosens again at room temperature.
Is it vegan?
Yes. Mushroom, vegetable oil, garlic, chilli and salt, and nothing else.
What is the termite connection, exactly?
Fungus growing termites keep a comb inside their nest made from chewed plant matter and fungal spores. Termitomyces grows on that comb and feeds the colony, and in return the colony gives it a substrate and a protected place to grow. The mushroom we pick is the fruiting body pushing up out of the nest. No termites are in the jar.
05Who makes it
Come and taste it
at our Mushroom Tea House
Jizong is hard to describe and easy to understand the moment it is on a spoon. If you are in Chiang Mai, come and try it rather than take our word for it.
Our Tea House is open five days a week, and there is usually a jar open.
Foraged inShan State, in the rains
Tea HouseCome and taste it on rice before you buy a jar
SeasonA few weeks a year. When it is gone, it is gone.
