For much of the year in Haiti, rain seeps into the crevices of rotting wood, sparking the growth of an island delicacy: an earthy, black mushroom named djon-djon that is the main ingredient for a rice dish made on special occasions.

The mushrooms are hand-picked throughout the rainy season and left to shrivel in the sun. Then they’re sold across the island or bagged and exported to the United States, where Haitian Americans buy the dried mushrooms online or from Caribbean grocery stores.

For holidays, family events or Sunday dinners, Haitians clean the dried mushrooms thoroughly (or separate the woody stem from the cap, which has the most flavor). They soak and boil them in chicken broth to extract their meaty flavor, then cook rice in that stock and add lima beans. The mushrooms turn the rice a dark brown or black — thus the Haitian Creole name diri djondjon, or black mushroom rice, that some call the dish. Some people also add blue crabs, shrimp or lobster.

“It’s like gold,” Alain Lemaire, a Haitian chef in Miami, said of the mushroom. When his mother visits from Haiti, she brings about 5 pounds with her. He vacuum-seals the mushrooms and leaves them in the refrigerator for four months or more.

This year, djon-djon has been less plentiful than usual, because some cities in Haiti received less precipitation than normal in the rainy seasons (March to June and August to December). Prices have spiked, and Haitians living in the United States have contributed to an increase in demand. In a pinch, some cooks use djon-djon bouillon cubes to make the rice.

“It’s such a prized food that there are people who buy large amounts and send them to the United States and Canada to sell in the stores that serve the diaspora,” said Josiane Hudicourt-Barnes, an educator in Vineyard Haven, on Martha’s Vineyard, in Massachusetts. The mushrooms grow in the yard of her home near Pétion-Ville, Haiti.

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Djon-Djon Rice (Black Mushroom Rice)

Recipe from Natacha Gomez-Dupuy; adapted by Christina Morales

Total time: 1 hour

Servings: 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS
For the rice
  • 2 cups (1½ ounces) dried djon-djon mushrooms
  • 4 cups unsalted chicken stock (or vegetable stock, or even water)
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup frozen lima beans
  • 1 cup unsalted roasted cashews (optional)
  • 2 cups parboiled rice
  • 1 whole green Scotch bonnet chili
  • 1 tablespoon butter (or plant-based butter)
For the epis
  • 3 small shallots, roughly chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
  • ½ (packed) cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves and stems, plus more for garnish
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon ground thyme (or ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves, or 4 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves removed and stalks discarded)
  • Salt
STEPS
  1. Clean the djon-djon: Sift the mushrooms through your fingers one small handful at a time, plucking out any wood particles or other debris and transferring your mushrooms to a medium lidded saucepan. Add the stock and soak for about 15 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the epis: In a blender or mini food processor, process the shallots, garlic, parsley, cloves, thyme and ¼ teaspoon salt until it forms a paste, scraping the sides as needed. (You may need 1 or 2 tablespoons of water to help it blend.)
  3. Bring the soaked djon-djon mushrooms in the stock to a simmer over medium-low heat then simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the broth, squeezing the mushrooms to extract as much liquid and flavor as possible, then reserve the djon-djon broth. (You should have about 2½ cups.)
  4. In a chodyè (caldero) or large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the epis and lima beans and stir for 2-3 minutes. Add the djon-djon broth and the roasted cashews, if using. Reduce the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil.
  5. Meanwhile, rinse the rice to remove some of the starch. Drain the rice, then add to the boiling broth, along with the Scotch bonnet chili. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cooking broth has almost evaporated, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt, then stir in the tablespoon of butter and cover the rice. Reduce the heat to low and let cook for 15-20 minutes more or until the rice is cooked through.
  6. Fluff the rice, sprinkle with chopped parsley to garnish and serve hot.
This story was originally published at nytimes.com. Read it here.