japanese: shiitake
mandarin: donggu, xianggu
these are one of the most common and distinctive types of mushrooms in asian food. they are round, flat, dark brown, fleshy, pungent, and usually between 1 and 2 inches in diameter. you can buy them dried; before using, just soak in cool water for 1 hour or hot water for 30 minutes. for most recipes you'll want to discard the tough stems, which you can save and use to flavor soup stock. you also might want to save the water that you soak them in, which can also be used to flavor things.
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