A common ingredient of Thai soups, this is a chinese mushroom 5-8 cms diameter, that is widely used across Asia. The easiest way of buying and keeping this mushroom is dried and they are available in many western supermarkets.

Preparation
1. Before using the dried mushroom, soak them for 5 to 10 minutes until they feel soft when squeezed.
2. Cut off the stalk, it is the cap of the mushroom we are interested in.
3. Cross-score the cap of the mushroom to make it softer if you are using the whole mushroom. This is not necessary if you will slicing this.