Recipe: Asian Mushroom Soup

Here's a good vegetarian soup to add to your weekday repertoire.

By

Kelly Rossiter

Tue, Nov 27 2012 at 11:55 AM

Related Topics:

Recipes, Vegetarianism & Veganism, TreeHugger

Photo: Kelly Rossiter

I made a soup the other day that I had intended to write about, but both my husband and I thought there was something missing, although we couldn't quite put our finger on what that ingredient was. It sounded really good on paper, but it just didn't work. In the end, I decided the recipe wasn't good enough to post. After a trip to Chinatown, I decided to try the soup again, but with my own recipe. (Notes: If you have them, use gloves while chopping a fresh bird's-eye chili. Otherwise wash your hands and your workspace very carefully with soapy water as soon as you are finished. Even though your hands are washed, avoid touching the area around your eyes, because you can still give yourself a bit of a burn, and believe me, it's really unpleasant. You can get kaffir lime leaves in most Asian grocery stores, and it's really worth it if you can find them. They really add a lot to the flavour of the soup. Roll them up tightly and then cut them into thin slices. After that, you can chop them up more finely.)

Prep time: 25 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes

Yield: Makes 8-10 servings

Asian Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 rib celery, thinly sliced
3 leaves kaffir lime, finely chopped
1 bird's-eye chili, finely chopped
6 Shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
6 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 blocks dried Chinese noodles
Handful baby bok choy, chopped finely
Handful cilantro for garnish

Cooking directions

In large pot heat peanut oil and add onions. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add carrot and celery and cook another couple of minutes. Add both kinds of mushrooms and cook until mushrooms start to give off some of their liquid. Add kaffir lime leaves and chili and stir in.
Add vegetable stock, soy sauce lime juice and cook until vegetables are tender. Add dried noodles and baby bok choy. Stir to break up noodles. Simmer until noodles and baby bok choy are tender. Taste for seasoning. Ladle into bowls and garnish with cilantro.

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