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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Vietnamese Coral Mushroom-Chicken Noodle Soup

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Vietnamese style noodle soup with coral mushrooms, chicken and rue ram

A little bowl of hot chili oil makes noodle soup extra tasty, and extra spicy.

I’ve been working on recipes with Rau-Ram, or Vietnamese coriander, as it’s basically my new favorite herb. If you don’t like cilantro, you should probably close your browser immediately, and walk away slowly from the computer, using your fingers to form a crucifix. Trust me, it may not be in the cilantro family, but the flavor is definitely in the same vein, and for me, that’s a good thing.

It’s an acquired taste, but for those of you who find cilantro pleasant, or (gasp!) crave it, like me, you’ll find it an incredible addition to your fresh herb tool kit, and one that is easily had for pennies at your local Asian market, or at a farmers market via Hmong or other Asian farmers, who plant it in my region as an annual.

The soup here started out as poached chicken for a classic Vietnamese chicken salad that relies on the Persicaria odorata / rau ram, but I had some fresh Ramariaj coral mushrooms I’d picked too that needed to be used, and it wouldn’t do to put them in a salad, I thought.

Once I smelled the poaching liquid, which I had planned on discarding, I switched gears immediately, told myself I’d make chicken salad later, and quickly made a bowl of mushroom soup with the poached chicken originally meant for the salad, the coral mushrooms, and all the garnishes I could scrounge up. It wasn’t a mistake.

Obviously you could use plenty of different mushrooms here, but I was using a Ramaria I hadn’t eaten before, so I cooked them cautiously. Ramaria are widely eaten around the world, but often they are boiled before cooking, so I blanched mine, and then simmered them again in the poaching liquid. That method isn’t reflected in the recipe below, and it was probably overkill, but, as it was my first time with the species I wanted to be extra cautious. It was delicious.

Vietnamese style noodle soup with coral mushrooms, chicken and rue ram

Vietnamese style noodle soup with coral mushrooms, chicken and rue ram
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Vietnamese Coral Mushroom-Chicken Noodle Soup

Vietnamese inspired coral mushroom soup with rue-ram
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 3 large chicken thighs
  • 8 oz fresh Ramaria / coral mushrooms or other wild mushrooms, like whole, small chanterelles, or hericium
  • Cooked rice stick noodles about 1 cup of cooked noodles per person.
  • Poaching liquid optional, the seasonings are just ideas
  • 8 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • Good dash of fish sauce to taste preferably Red Boat brand
  • 1 inch piece of ginger sliced
  • 3 cloves of garlic crushed
  • 1 stalk of lemongrass bruised with the back of a knife and chopped into 1 inch lengths
  • Small handful of parsley or cilantro stems
  • ½ inch piece of cinnamon stick or 1 star anise, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon dried Szechuan peppercorns optional
  • 1 small onion coarsely chopped
  • 1 rib of celery coarsely chopped
  • 1 small carrot coarsely chopped
  • 5 whole cloves
  • Zest of ½ a lime
  • Optional Garnishes
  • Fresh bean sprouts
  • Fresh cilantro
  • Rue ram leaves Persicaria odorata/Vietnamese coriander
  • Fresh mint leaves
  • Hot chili oil sriracha, or other spicy condiment
  • Lime wedges
  • Fresh sliced scallions

Instructions

  • Bring the ingredients for the poaching liquid to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, then add the chicken, bring the mixture back to a simmer, turn the heat off and allow the chicken to cool in the liquid and finish cooking with the residual heat.
  • When you can handle the chicken, remove it, discard the bones and shred the meat. If you want, save the skin, dry it, and bake until crisp like bacon for a garnish, you can also remove the skin before poaching for an even better result.
  • Strain the poaching liquid, then add it back to the pot with the mushrooms and simmer for another 20 minutes. Double check the seasoning, adjust as needed, and keep hot.
  • Meanwhile, pour boiling water over the rice noodles and leave for a second or two, just to tenderize them.
  • Divide the noodles between large soup bowls, (discarding the water) add the chicken, then ladle over the boiling hot broth, dividing the mushrooms and broth evenly between the bowls. Serve with your choice of garnishes on the side.

Ramaria botrytis noodle bowl (11)

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Previous Post: « Grilled Lobster Mushroom Salsa
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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
James Beard Award ‘22
Host: Field Forest Feast 👇
streaming on @tastemade

Alan Bergo
Had a blast on the last day of the @wild.fed shoot Had a blast on the last day of the @wild.fed shoot cooking in the Garden of Eden, a.k.a Sam Thayer’s orchard. 

We’d planned on making ground squirrel, bullfrog and crayfish gumbo but only the crayfish came through. Luckily I had some back up andouille just in case. 

It’s may not be traditional, but gumbo with crayfish broth, a heap of @mushroomforaginginmn porcini, milkweed pods (in lieu of okra) wild rice and crayfish-chanterelle salad didn’t suck. 6 of us polished off a gallon 😁.

H/o to chef Lenny Russo who I pestered with questions on frog-based foods beforehand. Hyper-local meals like this are what we made at Heartland in St Paul during my tenure there. 

@danielvitalis 
@grantguiliano 

#ditchlobster #mudbugs #gumbo #crayfish #wildrice #wildfed
Long, fun day snatching crayfish out of the water Long, fun day snatching crayfish out of the water by hand with Sam Thayer and @danielvitalis for @wild.fed 

Daniel and Sam were the apex predators, but I got a few. 

Without a net catching crayfish by hand is definitely a wax-on wax-off sort of skill. Clears your mind. 

They’re going into gumbo with porcini, sausage and milkweed pods today. 

#crayfish #ninjareflexes #waxonwaxoff #normalthings #onset🎥🎬
Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizo Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizomes and blueberries for this weeks shoot with @wildfed 

Been a few years since I worked with these. Thankfully Sam Thayer dropped a couple off for me to work with. They’re tender, crisp and delicious. 

Sam mentioned their mild flavor and texture could be because they don’t have to worry about predators eating them, since they grow in the muck of cattail marshes. 

I think they could use a pet name. Pond tusk? Swamp spears? Help me out here. 😂

Nature makes the coolest things. 

#itcamefromthepond #cattail #rhizomes #foraging #typhalatifolia
I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so much we filmed it instead of the original dish I’d planned. 

Cooked natural wild rice (not the black shiny stuff) is great hot, cold, sweet or savory. It’s a perfect, filling lunch for a long day of berry picking. 

I make them with whatever I have on hand. Mushrooms will fade into the background a little here, so I use a bunch of them, along with lots of herbs and hickory nut oil + dill flowers. 

I’m eating the leftovers today back up in the barrens (hopefully) getting some more bluebs for another shoot this week w @wild.fed 

#wilwilwice #wildrice #chanterelles #campfood #castironcooking
Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine caps on hardwood sawdust from my lumberjack buddy.

Next up blewits. Spawn from @northsporemushrooms

#winecaps #strophariaaeruginosa #allthemushroomtags
It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from my favorite spot tomorrow a.m. and have room for a couple helpers. It’s at an event on a farm just south of St. Cloud. 

If you’re interested send me a message and I’ll raffle off the spots. Plenty of cherries to go around. I’ll be leading a short plant walk around the farm too. 

#chokecherries #foraging #prunusvirginiana #summervibes
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