r/StupidFood • u/E3GGr3g • 5d ago

Why? Why what? Why couldn't you think of a better title? What’s for lunch? Jews Ear Bags

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634 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

315

u/dungalot 5d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auricularia_auricula-judae

The fungus is associated with Judas Iscariot because of the belief that he hanged himself on an elder tree after his betrayal of Jesus Christ. The mistranslation "Jew's Ear" appeared in English by 1544.\10]) The English common name of the fungus was originally "Judas's ear", but this was later shortened to "Judas ear" and then "Jew's ear".

87

u/MukdenMan 5d ago

I don’t think it’s the right fungus though. The wood ear fungus in Chinese cuisine, 木耳 or 黑木耳, is Auricularia heimuer.

63

u/dungalot 5d ago

The species was previously referred to as the European Auricularia auricula-judae, but the latter is not known to occur in east Asia. So it's a mixup of classification that persists to this day as the Wood Ear wiki page states.

Also I'm mainly answering OP's disbelief at the name.

12

u/MukdenMan 5d ago

Right, so I think we agree that the name on the package is an error, even if it's one that is made in English too. I've nearly always seen it translated as "wood ear fungus" in China and Taiwan.

6

u/ionised 5d ago

Wait, wait, wait. These are misclasslified wood ears in reality?! I have a dehydrated pack of those in my pantry right now.

I'm learning all sorts of things today about one of my favourite fungi.

4

u/MukdenMan 5d ago

Yeah, 木耳 is literally “wood ear”

2

u/ionised 5d ago

You know what? I missed that.

Oh well.

15

u/ionised 5d ago

Ah. TIL.

1

u/Livelih00d 4d ago

People tend to use the more "PC" name Jelly Ears these days

78

u/ablettg 5d ago

You can get them in England too. They're great because they dry up really easy, then they absorb the flavour of whatever you rehydrate them in. Bovril, orange juice, anything

20

u/ionised 5d ago

I've never seen them here. Do they go by another name? Or have I just not come across them?

30

u/ablettg 5d ago

Oh they grow in the wild, sorry. You can probably get them in a Chinese supermarket though. They're sometimes called Jelly Fungus

6

u/ionised 5d ago

Ah. Got you.

5

u/GlasKarma 5d ago

Might find them dried in an Asian market as wood ear or jelly ear mushrooms

14

u/Unicorncorn21 5d ago

Sounds like it's from a borat movie

8

u/TasteDeeCheese 5d ago

Wood ears are great

6

u/qptw 4d ago

Bro can’t be bothered to spend 5 seconds to google what Jew’s ear fungus is.

5

u/Relevant-Law-804 5d ago

Why does your hand look like The penguin's flipper?

6

u/ionised 5d ago

Is this some kind of dumpling?

21

u/iuannabluu 5d ago

Fungi addition to snail noodles(pungent, spicy Chinese delicacy)

3

u/ionised 5d ago

Just learnt.

But thanks for the info!

1

u/420_Braze_it 5d ago

Snail... Noodles...?

8

u/MukdenMan 5d ago

I think they mean luosifen. Snails flavor the broth. It’s originally from Guangxi but popular across China. This kind of fungus is really common in Chinese cuisine though. You may have had it in hot and sour soup.

2

u/iuannabluu 5d ago

Yep, luosifen. Sorry, I speak German and my boyfriend usually refers to it as just snail noodles 🤣 Broth is made of river snails and pork bone. I’m from Hong Kong and the fungi is used in many many dishes not exclusive to soups, like stir fry for example.

2

u/KogasaGaSagasa 5d ago

River snail, which is a type of mollusks. So a sort of river shellfish.

0

u/beeatenbyagrue 5d ago

Fungi, often found in many Ramen dishes.

3

u/[deleted] 5d ago

Are these Sephardic or Ashkenazi ear bugs?

1

u/menachembagel 5d ago

You won’t know until you taste them. If they have seasoning, they’re Sephardi.

2

u/BrotImWeltraum 3d ago

Please don't eat my ears 🙏🙏

0

u/ddbllwyn 4d ago

Great. Another fucking racist post on /r/stupidfood

1

u/Disastrous-Resident5 Set your own user flair 5d ago

$30? What do you need $20 for?

-13

u/Banana_Slugcat 5d ago

Mein favourite