Instant Jew's Ear Fungus

OK, loyal fans, I'm back. Since I'm still rocking the old fashioned camera, I'm hesitant to start my wedding and other trip-related posts until I have some photographs to make up for the fact that words can't describe how beautiful Washington was (is, unless we managed to do more damage than I recall). It was also great catching up with Austin friends again, and I have a new best friend in a two year old girl about to move to Brazil. But more on that later.

My friend Eli gave me the BEST. PRESENT. EVER. And the bar is set high, but I don't want to discourage the rest of you from trying to exceed it (you have my address, I'm a size six). It's called "Instant Jew's Ear Fungus". I tried googling it to find out what it actually is, but found only several blogs with entries like "What the hell is this stuff? How funny!" (I am trite and not as unique as I think), and several stores selling it without further explanation. I guess if you google it, you should already know what it is.

It appears to be some kind of food product. The ingredients are listed as, "Jew's Ear Fungus, Water, Sesame, Sesame Oil... etc.", and it is a product of the People's Republic of China. Eli purchased it in Seattle for 99 cents (such gifts are always better with price tags left on). I like the description on the back most of all:

" Instant Jew's Ear Fungus
Your most convenient way of preparing Jew's ear fungus with great authenticity. We use only the finest quality natural Jew's ear fungus and prepared it with most traditional [sic]. Then we top it off with a five spice seasoning package to be added before serving. This dish is generally served as appetizer together with other cold cut [sic] such as B.B.Q. pork or slice of chicken."

I found many shots of another brand, but the link below will show you the brand I have. It's a flickr site and I'm on a Mac so heck if I know how to save it myself and put it directly here. Please send me my Thinkpad! Please!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cygnoir/28296/in/pool-ucpaqf/