#shiitake

Traditional Lunar New Year soup for Koreans, for whom having a bowl of this soup equals aging one more year.

Based loosely off of a celebrity chef’s recipe, my version features soy protein, dried shiitake mushrooms, and chickpea “egg"s.

No meat, no eggs, includes fish sauce.

Asian style noodles under 20 minutes - my type of meals

* click on photos for a better quality

1. What is required:

• 300 g. noodles
• shiitake mushrooms (I bought the package of 30 g. dried mushrooms. I soaked them in hot water for several hours until soft)
• 250 g. frozen edamame or green beans
• ~ 100 ml. rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp soybean paste (I am using the Korean one. You can use miso paste. In this case take 3 tbsp because it’s less saltier)
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 80 ml. tahini
• raw radishes and sesame seeds to garnish (optional)

* I am also using lemon grass powder and the mix of Asian spice.

2. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Rinse under cold water.

3. Chop mushrooms into quarters.

4. Heat a large pan. Cook mushrooms and green beans/edamame in water or oil over medium heat. 

5. While vegetables are cooked, mince the garlic cloves.

6. Mix tahini, soybean paste, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and maple syrup in a bowl. Add the minced garlic.

7. When vegetables are soft, add noodles and the tahini sauce. Mix well and cook for 5-7 minutes.

8. Garnish with sesame seeds and sliced radishes.

Shiitake mushrooms are one of the more accessible gourmet ingredients. Fresh, they have an earthy, savory flavor reminiscent of browned meat. Dried, especially at Asian grocery stores, they are notably inexpensive and a shortcut to great flavor. Incidentally, their Japanese name is composed of two characters: shii(椎), the name of the tree on which they grow in the wild and take(茸), a word for mushroom.

Fresh isn’t always best: the flavor of shiitake mushrooms actually improves when they are dried and reconstituted as in our recipe for Doenjang (Miso) Smothered Chicken. Simply steep dried mushrooms in a small amount of boiling water for 15-20 minutes, drain, and reserve the liquid – sometimes referred to as mushroom liqueur – for later use. Dried shiitake is also a key ingredient in vegetarian and non-vegetarian Japanese (dashi, だし) and Korean (yuksu, 육수) soup stocks.

Shiitake are also known as dōng gū (冬菇) in Chinese,  pyogo-buseot (표고버섯) in Korean and het hom (เห็ดหอม), literally “aromatic mushroom”, in Thai.