Winter Worm, Summer Plant

Several of my dear Chinese friends tried to convince me, but I refused to accept it. "It begins its life as a plant, and then becomes an animal," they said. Or the other way around -- animal first, then plant. I'm no biologist but I'm pretty sure that's not possible.

"It's a virus? Bacteria? Fungus?" I said.

"No, it's a worm," they said. While others said, "No, it's a grass plant. [pause] But an animal too!"

Obviously we had to get to the bottom of this nonsense. We found the scientific name for the mystery worm, and here it is: Cordyceps Sinensis. It has a few colloquial names also, like Chinese caterpillar fungus, cordyceps mushroom, or spring grass, winter worm.

But here's what you need to know. It's really a parasitic fungus.

And it's good for you, that's why some people eat it.

Cordyceps Sinensis is a plant that has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to restore energy, promote longevity, stimulate the immune system, and to improve quality of life. Ancient records claim that it is beneficial for the heart, circulatory system, liver, kidneys, respiratory system, and sex organs.
- Health Touch Online

There they go, calling it a "plant" again.

Anyway, apparantly there's this worm, or caterpillar moth larve thing, that crawls into the Tibetan ground and gets attacked by a parasitic fungus, and thus consumes the "animal" and turns it into a "plant." I'm still confused. What is a fungus? And why does what I ate look like a caterpillar anyway?



There were about 20 of them, tied together with a string, sitting in my soup. They tasted like ginseng, you know, that mouldy tree bark taste. They were cooked in a nice, restorative broth with pork chops and carrots. We found them at a medicine shop and they cost something ridiculous like 60 USD for the little bunch you see in the pic.

They're expensive because they're obscure and difficult to obtain. Read about that.

Incidently, why does nearly every Chinese traditional medicine claim to aid sexual organs and ability? I guess the ancient pharmacists figured out that sex sells. No wonder there's over a billion Chinese people.

Look, here's a whole pile of 'em.



Pile of worm fungus, that is.

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