Amber Jelly Roll Flavor Newsletter
Wood boogers, bone broth fat, and sour gummies.
Get The Recipe
Amber Jelly Noodles. Amber jellies are the mushroom I just always have in the back of my cabinet - just like that lone ramen packet I keep forgetting about. This recipe uses pantry staples and frozen veggies so you can make it on a weeknight in the dead of winter. The Wild Grocery Podcast.
Amber Jelly Roll Mushrooms
I’ll be honest with you: foragers are kinda split on this ingredient. Amber jelly roll fungi (amber jellies for short) are translucent, with a deep red-brown color and an almost nonexistent flavor. Their texture however, is uncommon in American kitchens, and can be quite polarizing. Some describe it as tender, soft, and silky with a slight bounce. And then there are people like
who say that eating them is “like chewing on a semi hard piece of jiggly bone broth fat.” I’ll leave it to you to decide if that’s a good or a bad thing.I happen to love them. Amber jellies are very common and can be found growing on fallen tree branches, even in the dead of winter. On snowy January hikes, they’re sometimes the only snack to pair with the wild garlic peaking up through the white forest floor. They dehydrate down to tiny flakes that fit in a spice jar, and rehydrate quickly, ballooning in size to fill several cups of slippery shrooms. They’re a pantry stalwart: easy to collect in bulk, easy to store, and easy to cook.
If you’re thinking they look familiar, you may have spotted them on Instagram and TikTok this week. They were featured on wildfoodlove, where Savanna from foraging_ky gives some helpful identification tips and calls them “just a mushy ball of slime.” And in one of the worst things that has ever happened to me, Karee Upendo from upendoestates posted a reel where she called them “wood boogers.” Despite the unseemly descriptions, both creators worked some culinary magic - a vegan clam chowder from Savanna and a miso soup from Karee - so I’ll chalk that up as a win for us booger lovers.
In addition to soups and stir-fries, many foragers make fruit gummies from amber jellies by rehydrating them with fruit juices like elderberry and autumn olive. It’s probably one of the best uses of the fungi, and I like to make them sour by tossing them in a bit of citric acid. If you’d like a recipe for that, let me know in the comments on this post. Check below for strategies to get amber jellies, explore this week’s original recipe for a Amber Jelly Noodles, and get more jelly inspiration on The Wild Grocery Podcast.
Find the Flavor
This one’s tough to get without doing some foraging. They’re not commonly sold online or in stores, much to my chagrin. This is a great opportunity to reach out to your local foraging community, or take the leap to start harvesting for yourself! Check the references & resources for some identification videos and articles.
Find Amber Jelly Roll Mushrooms
✓ Wild throughout the United States
✓ Ask your local forager or naturalist
Find Amber Jelly Roll Products
✓ Plugs to grow your own Amber Jellies
References & Resources
Amber Jelly Roll Video from Learn Your Land
Eat the Planet Amber Jelly Article
Live Great Food Amber Jelly Article
I want to hear from everyone - have you cooked with Amber Jellies before? Any thoughts on the recipe? Would you try these little jellies?