Agroprime = Grande Farm Enterprise

I am supposed to register Agroprime Enterprise but was told that the word "prime" is a reserved word. Thus, a quick change of name to Grande Farm Enterprise.

Watch out for this blog. We are harvesting our first batch of fresh oyster mushroom 2 weeks from now !

I will upload a map to Grande Farm Enterprise really soon so to ease anyone who wishes to drop by/visit our mushroom farm.

Please inform prior to visit.... coz we would like to serve you a nice cuppa coffee while you are there !

Cheers,
Veronica

Types Of Mushrooms

Cendawan kawal kanser?

Utusan Malaysia : 13 Januari 2008

OLEH SHAFINAZ SHEIKH MAZNAN

BUKAN satu rahsia.

Cendawan merupakan sebahagian daripada diet atau pemakanan yang bukan sahaja enak dan pelbagai tetapi juga berkhasiat dan penting dalam kehidupan seharian.
Bayangkan sahaja sup cendawan keju dengan kruton atau dicampur bijirin yang lazat dan berkrim. Sungguh menyelerakan!

Kesan legendanya sebagai penawar herba kini turut meraih perhatian saintis Barat untuk melakukan penyelidikan demi penyelidikan.
Cendawan telah diamalkan di dalam perubatan herba tradisional di China dan Jepun sejak beribu tahun lampau.

Di Asia, cendawan biasa digunakan untuk melegakan kesakitan dan merawat penyakit-penyakit seperti artritis.
Tidak hairanlah jika spesies kulat yang sering diklasifikasikan dalam kumpulan yang sama dengan buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran ini bakal muncul kelas seterusnya yang tersendiri dalam perubatan alami.

Pengamal perubatan tradisi Cina, Martin Powell dalam kunjungannya ke Kuala Lumpur baru-baru ini berkongsi maklumat bagaimana ‘sentuhan ajaib’ cendawan yang dakwanya, boleh digunakan untuk meningkatkan keberkesanan rawatan kanser.

Menurutnya, cendawan mempunyai manfaat unik bagi mereka yang menjalani rawatan konvensional kanser kerana selamat digunakan bersama-sama dengan perubatan moden.

‘‘Terdapat banyak perubatan herba yang tidak diterima oleh doktor kerana berkemungkinan interaksi dengan ubat, tetapi penggunaan cendawan ini dianggap selamat dan telah digunakan oleh doktor sebagai rawatan tambahan di Barat.

‘‘Coriolus versicolor merupakan cendawan yang paling banyak dikaji untuk menyokong kegunaannya ke atas kanser dan telah digunakan untuk terapi kanser di China dan Jepun. Pada lewat 1980-an jualan Coriolus di Jepun dianggarkan berjumlah AS$600 juta (RM2.884 bilion),” ujar Powell.

Anak kelahiran United Kingdom (UK) ini turut menyampaikan ceramah bertajuk Khasiat Cendawan dalam Pengawalan Kanser kepada para pengamal perubatan tradisi Cina, anjuran Bio-Life, sebuah syarikat tempatan yang berkecimpung dalam penjagaan kesihatan secara semula jadi.

Powell merupakan seorang ahli biokimia yang juga berkemahiran dalam perubatan Cina setelah melanjutkan pelajaran dalam bidang tersebut di Sekolah Akupuntur dan Perubatan Tradisional Cina London serta di Klinik Perubatan Tradisional Cina, Shanghai, China.

Kini, beliau merupakan pensyarah Perubatan Herba Cina dan Terapi Nutrisi di Universiti Westminister, London selain memberi syarahan tentang khasiat cendawan untuk Mycology Research Laboratories (MRL) di Portugal, Ireland dan England.

Powell telah menjadi tenaga pengajar sejak tahun 1997 dan mengajar mengenai perubatan Cina di Ireland dan Sweden.
Pemakanan berkhasiat cendawan adalah salah satu bidang pengkhususannya.

Mengulas lanjut, Powell berkata, dua ekstrak daripada Coriolus versicolor telah diuji secara mendalam di China dan Jepun dan didapati mampu meningkatkan jangka hayat penghidap kanser payudara, paru-paru, perut, usus dan nasofarinks.

‘‘Kini, cendawan ini digunakan secara meluas untuk menyokong sistem imuniti badan dalam pengawalan kanser.
‘‘Rawatan radioterapi dan kemoterapi akan melemahkan sistem imuniti badan dan pengambilan cendawan membantu keberkesanan rawatan, mengurangkan kesan sampingan serta menyokong sistem imun.

Berulang
‘‘Pengambilan berterusan selepas rawatan membantu mengelak kanser daripada berulang. Selain itu, ia turut digunakan dalam beberapa masalah jangkitan virus yang kronik,” katanya.
Dalam perubatan Barat, apabila mereka menilai sesuatu penyakit, mereka tidak melihat seseorang itu secara keseluruhan walaupun ia penting terutamanya bagi penyakit tahap akut.

Powell tertarik dengan bagaimana masyarakat Cina membuat penilaian mengenai kesihatan dan penyakit.
‘‘Ia ada kaitan dengan ‘yin dan yang’, tujuh emosi. Contohnya jantung adalah keceriaan, limpa adalah kerisauan, ginjal adalah ketakutan, hati adalah kemarahan dan paru-paru adalah kesedihan.
‘‘Manakala konsep keharmonian dan keseimbangan juga dianggap sebagai sesuatu yang diperlukan dalam kehidupan,” jelas beliau.

Tambahnya, cendawan yang paling banyak digunakan adalah Coriolus, Cordyceps sinensis dan Reishi (Lingzhi).
Powell sendiri banyak menggunakan lingzhi untuk rawatan rinitis kerana ia bersifat antihistamin, antiradang dan bahan pemodulasi imun.

Ia membantu mereka yang kurang tenaga dan lelaki yang mempunyai fungsi seksual yang lemah. Beliau memberitahu:

‘‘Saya akan mengambil Coriolus apabila mendapat selesema, semasa mengembara dan apabila berada dalam stres. Pengambilan Coriolus dan vitamin C membantu mengelakkan jangkitan.

‘‘Dalam masalah kanser seperti payudara, perut, usus, prostat, hati dan juga leukemia, pengambilannya berupaya membantu menyokong sistem imun.

‘‘Di UK, ada doktor haiwan yang memberi Coriolus kepada anjing dan kucing yang menghidap kanser tahap akhir dan ia membantu meningkatkan selera makan dan kualiti kehidupan haiwan berkenaan.”

Produk cendawan yang dimaksudkan oleh Powell adalah daripada MRL di California, yang memfokuskan kepada perkembangan klinikal untuk menyokong sistem imun.

MRL mempunyai perpustakaan yang ekstensif mengenai jenis-jenis cendawan untuk memastikan spesies cendawan yang betul dan bioaktif digunakan.

Contohnya, spesies yang betul mengikut Chinese Pharmocopoeia adalah Cordyceps sinensis, tetapi dianggarkan 75 peratus produk di pasaran menggunakan Cordyceps militarium.

Kajian menunjukkan cendawan Shiitake, Maitake, Reishi, Cordyceps sinensis dan Coriolus versicolor bersifat antitumor.

Maitake, Coriolus dan Reishi juga bersifat antiradang manakala Coriolus dan Reishi bermanfaat untuk melindungi hati.

‘‘Coriolus, Maitake dan Reishi mempunyai bahan hipoglisemik (mengurangkan kandungan gula darah) manakala Cordyceps mempunyai aktiviti steroid.

‘‘Cendawan ini mengandungi polisakarida berantai panjang, beta glukan dan proteoglikan dan enzim-enzim untuk mengelakkan tekanan oksidatif, menghalang perkembangan sel tak terkawal dan merangsang detoksifikasi,” terang Powell.

Recipe : Mock Abalone

Sautéed oyster mushrooms are similar to abalone in taste. Serve them hot.

Ingredients :

1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
2 small garlic clove, minced
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1 pound oyster mushrooms (cut large ones in half)
5 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
Lemon wedges and/or soy sauce

How we do it :

1. Put the flour, salt, pepper, marjoram, thyme, garlic, and paprika in a small paper bag.

2. Add the mushrooms and shake well.

3. Heat the butter and oil in a sauté pan or skillet and sauté the mushrooms on each side for 2 minutes or until golden brown.

4. Serve immediately with lemon wedges and/or soy sauce.
--Lois Der

Recipe : Oyster Mushroom Tempura

Pastry flour makes a lighter batter, but all-purpose flour can be used as a substitute in this recipe.

Ingredients :

1 egg
1 cup very cold water
2/3 cup pastry flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt
1 pound oyster mushrooms, cut or torn into large pieces
Oil for deep-frying

How We Do It :

1. Beat the egg slightly in a mixing bowl.

2. Stir in the cold water, flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt to make a thin batter.

3. Dip the mushrooms into the batter.

4. Heat the oil to 375º and deep-fry the mushrooms until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

--Lois Der

Recipe : Oyster Mushroom Chowder

Serves 4 as a first course
A robust soup for a cold night.

- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup minced onions
- 1 cup cubed peeled potatoes
- 2 cups milk, scalded
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Dash of ground mace
- Dash of Tabasco sauce
- Pinch of dried thyme
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 1 cup half and half
- Bread cubes browned in butter and drained well
- Minced fresh parsley

HOW WE DO IT :

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan.

Add the mushrooms and onions, and cook for 3 minutes or until tender.

Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the pan and slowly cook the potato cubes for 10 minutes or until tender.

Gradually stir in the milk. Add the salt, pepper, mace, Tabasco, and thyme. Allow this to come to a boil, then remove the pan from the heat.

In a mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, sherry, and half and half and slowly blend the mixture into the chowder.

Add the onions and mushrooms and heat almost, but not quite, to a boil. Taste to correct the flavoring.

Serve at once in soup plates. Float the bread cubes in the soup and sprinkle with parsley.
--Kitchen Magic with Mushrooms

Oyster Mushroom

Knowledgable mushroom lovers all over the world wait until the fall of the year to pursue the robust oyster mushrooms that grow on trees in the wild. Shortly after the first rains of the season, the snow-gray petal-like beginnings of P. ostreatus can be found.

The autumn forest is brightened with the delicate, young, translucent, eccentrically stemmed caps cascading shelflike from the surface of dead hardwood trees. The cap is scallop shaped and has a delicate aniselike aroma not usually found in oyster mushrooms grown on artifical material. Occasionally, tan caps will be found, and some of these can spread out to 18 inches in diameter, with thick, meaty flesh. It is possible to gather caps from a single log two or three times in one season.

Fresh oyster mushrooms can now be found in supermarkets and farmer's markets alongside our friendly but less-expensive common store mushroom. Cultivated oyster mushrooms are not only sweet tasting but versatile, because they can be used as a subtle flavoring agent in many ways.

A spectrum of colored Pleurotus has appeared in the marketplace. Gray, blue, yellow, pink, and white caps will please the eye as well as the palate. Members of our society call it the "designer mushroom." Especially delicious is the dark-capped P. sajor-caju, which blends well in a variety of dishes. The stems are tender and tasty, which makes them a good buy.

The most recently introduced cultivated Pleurotus is outstanding: it has delicate daffodil-yellow flowerlike caps with pure white stems, and grows in large clumps. One such group could be used as a centerpiece for a dinner table.

The almost fruity aroma reminds one of certain zinfandel red wines, and this sweet quality is not lost in cooking. Prepared in a baked noodle dish, its pleasant flavor mixes with the other ingredients without losing intensity. Try to buy those which have large caps. The small specimens do not have the same fine flavor.

Cook the same way as P. ostreatus. The stems of the yellow Pleurotus may be quite bitter to some individuals, in which case they should be removed and discarded.
For do-it-yourselfers, oyster mushrooms can be grown at home on a small scale from kits sold through seed catalogues and gardening magazines.

Occasionally clumps of Pleurocybella porrigens, "angels' wings," are found on coniferous wood. These are slender, smaller, short-stemmed relatives of P. ostreatus. They are encountered over most the United States. Cook and clean them as you would other Pleurotus species.
A few minor intestinal upsets have been reported from eating Pleurotus mushrooms.

These are usually mild reactions, such as those some of us have had from eating watermelon, cabbage, etc..

Cleaning
Cut off the lower part of the stems of all oyster varieties, especially when using cultivated caps, to remove any shreds of straw or wood. The stems are tough, so discard them. Be certain to rapidly flush out the gill spaces of wild mushrooms. Insects enjoy this sanctuary. Use a minimum amount of water, since P. ostreatus is naturally quite moist. Gently press between paper or cloth towels to remove excess liquid. All species of Pleurotus are cleaned in the same manner.

Cooking
Oyster mushrooms are used in stir-fried dishes, since the cap is thin and cooks quickly. Asian chefs simply tear the mushroom into desirable sizes before adding it to their woks.
If you prepare a dish that requires a long cooking time, add these mushrooms at the last stage of cooking. Once heated briefly in butter or oil, they add character to a light cream sauce poured over fillets of sole or chicken breasts.
Sometimes very large specimens with flesh more than 1 inch thick are found. These can be cut into large pieces, dipped into slightly beaten eggs, and then rolled in bread crumbs for pan-frying.

Preserving
Store in a freezer after briefly sautéing in butter.
Oyster mushrooms dehydrate rapidly. When used dry, they can be added to a dish without rehydration. Asian stores now offer them in bulk and in packages, fresh or dried.