International dishesSoupsEurope and North America35 minutes
When the weather turns cold, creamy shiitake mushroom soup is the quick way to warm up. The pleasure is in the smooth, thick body and the scent of mushroom and thyme. The difficulty is that cream added to a soup held at a hard boil will split.
The flour has to disappear completely into the pan of mushrooms before any stock goes in, or the soup turns lumpy. Rinsing the mushrooms in rice washing water softens their raw smell. Slices cut to an even thickness cook at the same rate and blend smooth.
This batch weighs about 2.5kg, at roughly 80 calories per 100g.
Method
Rinse 1kg of fresh shiitake mushrooms and cut them into even, bite sized slices.
Set a pan on the heat with 10g of butter and 2 teaspoons of cooking oil, stirring until the butter has melted. Add 2 finely chopped onions and 1 tablespoon of minced garlic and stir until fragrant and cooked through.
Add all the sliced mushrooms along with 5g of finely chopped thyme and stir until the mushrooms soften.
Add 1/2 bowl of all purpose flour to the pan and stir until the flour has disappeared into a thick mixture, then season with 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Pour 500ml of broth into the mushroom pan and bring it up over medium heat. Once it returns to a simmer, sprinkle in 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder, stir, then cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Stir in 200ml of oat cream, add all 10g of chopped cilantro along with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, taste and adjust, then take the pan off the heat. Serve hot with 4 slices of bread.
Tips
Rinsing the mushrooms in rice washing water takes the raw edge off their smell.
Once the cream goes in, the soup should not return to a hard boil, since split cream ruins the texture.
Flour stirred until it fully disappears into the mushroom pan before the stock goes in keeps the soup free of lumps.
Slicing the mushrooms to an even thickness lets them all soften at the same time.
More from kOBE
The kOBE kitchen has over a thousand more recipes, plus Monk Fruit Blend and ready meals delivered.