It looks like sponge but this is a fungi–snow fungus, or bai mu er . When reconstituted and soaked it looks beautiful, as shown below. Snow fungus, also sold as tremella, is cooked in savory dishes and desserts.
In dried form, they come loose, in its original size but dehydrated. You can also find them in compressed, tiny blocks, which is great for storage .
Traditionally, we soaked it overnight to soften and then painstakingly trimmed and cleaned away the hardier and dirty bits. Today packaged dried snow fungus is so clean it’s ready for use with little extra work.
Soak dried bai mu er in warm water. Sometimes it takes only 20-30 minutes for it to be reconstituted to its white blooms, more than double its dried size. Two loose clusters or one compressed block will bloom a large bowl of snow fungus. Once it blooms, drain water, and set aside until ready for use.
Tremella is sold in Chinese or Vietnamese supermarkets. Look for them in the aisle selling dried mushroom.
