Oreja de madera

Malty acid is the only thing this fungus will actually absorb.

Coats the gelatinous surface so seasoning has something to stick to.

Heat and fat, since the mushroom supplies neither and never will.

Raw, minced, into the cold dressing. Cooked garlic is wasted here.

Loud green over a texture with no aroma to interfere with.

Salt and glutamate borrowed wholesale. The fungus contributes bite.

Slivered raw; two crunches at different frequencies in one mouthful.

Soft rendered fat needs something that snaps back at the tooth.

Numbing tingle is a texture too. Stack it on the rubbery snap.

One brings the umami, the other brings the bite. Neither does both.

Two crunches, no flavours. The dish is entirely about the noise.

Both gelatinous-crisp. The fruit supplies perfume the fungus never had.