National Museum of Natural Science

Bamboo fungus chicken soup includes a sponge-like ingredient. You may hear older people in Taiwan refer to this as “the inner membrane of bamboo.” Most people do not realize that this is part of the bamboo fungus. The white cylindrical pseudostripe shown in this photo is the part that is eaten. According to a description in a reference book on Chinese medicinal fungi, this fungus can be used to treat dysentery and has a preservative effect when cooked with meat.