Can this small county manage truffles, a luxury ingredient worth thousands of dollars per kilogram? 丨There is something special about this city

　Text/Chen Haoxing

　　A little trivia: Truffles, a luxury ingredient commonly used in high-end Western food and the legendary "King of Fungi," are actually one of Sichuan's specialties.

Huidong County

　　in Sichuan Province, located deep in the mountains

, is the first place where truffles were discovered in China and is currently the largest truffle producing area in China.

How did Huidong County become associated with truffles?

Huidong truffles: the highest price is 5,000 yuan per kilogram

　　Truffle is a rare edible fungus that is highly praised by diners in some European and American countries and is known as "underground gold".

　　Dr. Li Xiaolin, director of the Cultivation and Physiology Research Center of the Sichuan Edible Fungi Research Institute, said in an interview with China News Service: There are many kinds of truffles in Huidong County. Different types and colors of truffles have different fragrances, with black truffles being the main ones. .

　　It is understood that the market price of truffles in Huidong County is mainly divided into two levels: 100 to 500 yuan per kilogram for ordinary black truffles; 500 to 1,000 yuan per kilogram for high-quality black truffles.

In addition, some rare varieties such as white truffles are even more expensive, reaching 5,000 yuan per kilogram.

　　Currently, if you want to buy black truffles produced in Huidong County in first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, the average price is about 3,000 yuan per kilogram.

　　Once upon a time, Huidong County did not understand the precious value of this kind of "underground gold". Even if the locals dug it up, they regarded it as useless and even used it to feed livestock.

It was not until the research and culture of truffles became popular that people gradually realized the preciousness of black truffles, and the price began to rise.

Four major advantages create a global truffle leader

　　Truffles begin to grow in the summer, and the best time to pick and eat them is from November to March of the following year.

According to statistics, Huidong County's annual truffle output is about 150 tons, accounting for 80% of the country's total and 20% of the world's, injecting strong impetus into local economic development.

Image source: Liangshan Cultural Tourism WeChat official account

　　Why can Huidong County produce a large amount of black truffles?

Li Xiaolin explained that this is mainly because the region has four major climate and geographical advantages.

　　First, suitable soil topography and humid climate: Huidong County’s soil texture and topographic conditions are very suitable for the growth of black truffles.

The soil in this area is usually mineral-rich calcareous soil, with good drainage, abundant rainfall, relatively high humidity and stable climate conditions, allowing black truffles to fully grow.

　　The second is altitude: Huidong County is located in a higher altitude area, usually above 1,000 meters. The climate conditions in this high-altitude area are very favorable for the growth of black truffles.

　　The third is light: Huidong County’s light characteristics are mild and sufficient.

Because it is located in a higher altitude area, Huidong County has moderate sunlight intensity and relatively long illumination time, but the illumination intensity is not too intense.

　　Fourth, vegetation coverage and ecological environment: Huidong County has a good ecological environment and rich vegetation, among which a large number of Huashan pine and Yunnan pine provide ideal hosts and sufficient nutrient sources for black truffles.

　　Li Xiaolin said that in Huidong County, in addition to suitable climate conditions, the government and local residents attach great importance to the protection and effective management of truffle resources, as well as artificial cultivation and promotion of wild truffles.

These factors have jointly contributed to the vigorous development of the truffle industry in Huidong County, making it a major truffle producing area.

　　In order to guide the green development of the truffle industry, Huidong County issued the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Truffle Industry", which clearly takes market demand as the guide, improves quality, upgrades processing, cultivates leaders, builds brands, develops markets, and gives full play to Huidong's natural resources. Advantages, accelerate the cultivation and development of the truffle industry.

The 'truffle hunter' who uses pigs to find truffles

　　In addition to the gifts of nature, the orderly mining of truffles is also very important.

In the winter mountains of Huidong, you can often see people carrying hoes, schoolbags, and water bottles walking in the deep mountains and dense forests. They are generally called "truffle hunters."

　　The job of a "truffle hunter" is not easy and requires extensive experience and keen observation to search for traces of black truffles in dense forests.

After years of exploration and practice, they have been able to determine the growth environment and possible location of black truffles based on soil texture, topography, light, vegetation coverage, precipitation, altitude and other factors.

　　In addition to relying on their own experience and observation, "truffle hunters" sometimes also use the help of animals.

The distinctive smell of truffles excites animals such as pigs, so their sense of smell can be used to search for them.

In the Huidong region, it is common to use pigs or dogs to hunt for truffles.

　　Li Xiaolin explained that black truffles contain α-androstol, a substance similar to boar male hormones. The smell it emits induces sows in estrus to pursue it, so black truffles are also called "porcine arch bacteria."

　　The work of "truffle hunters" is not limited to collection, but also includes the protection and management of truffle resources.

They know very well that only by protecting the environment and protecting ecology can we ensure the sustainable use of truffle resources.

Can black truffles find their way onto ordinary people’s dining tables?

　　Due to low production and high price, black truffle is still a luxury food.

Can it be brought to the table of ordinary people in the future?

　　In fact, many delicious wild mushrooms are still not available through artificial cultivation.

For example, 99.99% of the black truffles in Huidong County are pure wild.

Image source: Liangshan Cultural Tourism WeChat official account

　　Li Xiaolin said that the current artificial cultivation technology of truffles is not yet mature.

First, the truffle mycorrhizal bacteria need to be cultivated and then inoculated into large trees for cultivation.

As long as the growing environment is kept free from pollution, it takes 5 to 8 years to obtain a stable harvest.

This process has a long cycle and poor stability, so more than 90% of truffles worldwide are still wild.

　　"But if we can break through the problem of rapid factory-based artificial cultivation, it is possible to achieve geometric growth in output in the future. Gene editing technology is expected to play an important role in this process." Li Xiaolin said that as output increases, the price of black truffles will definitely increase. decline and thus become more popular.

　　Black truffle is an important ingredient in high-end Western food, but it seems to have little overlap with Chinese food.

In fact, around the black truffle producing areas, there are many traditional local dishes and innovative cuisine that incorporate black truffles.

　　As an expert in edible fungi, Li Xiaolin also recommended several popular local black truffle dishes and their preparations.

　　Stewed native chicken with truffles: Stew the native chicken until cooked, add fresh slices of truffle and simmer for a few minutes.

Dosage: 1-2kg chicken with 50-100g fresh truffles, no spices added when stewing the chicken.

　　Truffle stewed black goat: Use fresh black truffles and high-quality black goat meat, cut into pieces and stew for several hours, add cinnamon, star anise and other seasonings.

Rich taste and attractive aroma.

　　Truffle egg custard: Crack the eggs, add salt, olive oil and truffles, stir, add warm boiling water and steam for 3-5 minutes, add fresh slices of truffles after serving.

　　Truffle rice: Mix thinly sliced ​​truffles, olive oil, salt, and minced garlic, add cooked rice, heat in microwave or keep warm in a rice cooker to allow the truffle aroma to penetrate into the rice.

　　Truffle scrambled eggs: Add thinly sliced ​​or grated truffles to eggs, stir well and stir-fry until cooked.

Avoid frying at high temperatures to preserve the aroma of the truffles.

　　Li Xiaolin said that black truffle, as a highly nutritious food, has many benefits to human health.

It is rich in protein, fat, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, multiple vitamins and minerals, including 18 kinds of amino acids, 8 of which are essential for the human body.

　　In addition, black truffles also contain bioactive substances such as polyphenols and flavonoids, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and are beneficial to health.

The unsaturated fatty acids it contains, such as OMEGA-3 and OMEGA-6, are also good for heart health, helping to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.