Friday, June 08, 2007

Shitake Mushroom Soup


Ever had one of those days when you are doing 101 things at a time, and accidentally misread the quantity of ingredients needed for a new recipe. So, instead of soaking 25 gms (about 1 oz) of shitake mushrooms for soon kuih, I did 75 gms (little less than 3 oz). It doesn't look like much at first, but after soaking for about one hour, it was a substantial amount of mushroom. And not wanting to waste those lovely dried fungi, I added fresh button mushrooms and went ahead to made soup from a new recipe I just came across. Used this very easy recipe from Anthony Bourdain's very entertaining and humurous cookbook called Les Halles. I added shitake mushrooms to where his recipe called for button mushrooms.

Mushroom Soup
6 tbs butter
1 small onion, thinly sliced
12 ounces of (mixed rehydrated shitake and) button mushrooms
4 c light chicken stock or broth
2 sprigs of flat parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2 ounces high-quality sherry (don't use the cheap grocery-store variety; it's salty and unappetizing and will ruin your soup)

In the medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the mushrooms and the remaining butter. Let the mixture sweat for about 8 minutes, taking care that the onion doesn't take on any brown color. Stir in the chicken stock and the parsley and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour.

After an hour, remove the parsley and discard. Let the soup cool for a few minutes, then transfer to the blender and carefully blend at high speed until smooth.

When blended, return the mixture to the pot, season with salt and pepper, and bring up to a simmer again. Add the sherry, mix well, and serve immediately.

Recipe from Anthony Bourdain's cookbook Les Halles

Note: It didn't need any cream, and yet it's packed with flavor and great for a cool spring night. Had it with sliced french bread and a green salad.

3 comments:

Little Corner of Mine said...

Your soup looks good too! :)

ioyces said...

hi there!!

hopped over to your blog from 'little corner of mine'..

the shitake soup looks interesting.. what's the oil on top?

cheers!

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Thanks C!

Ioyces,
Thanks for hopping by. I would had drizzled truffle oil except I finished it, so I made some shallot oil with a little sesame oil.:)