• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

FORAGER | CHEF

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

  • Home
  • About
  • Wild Mushrooms
    • Mushroom Archive
    • Posts by Species
      • Other Mushrooms
        • Lobster Mushrooms
        • Huitlacoche
        • Shrimp of the Woods
        • Truffles
        • Morels
        • Shaggy Mane
        • Hericium
        • Puffball
      • Polypores
        • Hen of the Woods
        • Dryad Saddle
        • Chicken of The Woods
        • Cauliflowers
        • Ischnoderma
        • Beefsteak
      • Chanterelles
        • Black Trumpet
        • Hedgehogs
        • Yellowfeet
      • Gilled
        • Matsutake
        • Honey Mushrooms
        • Russula / Lactarius
          • Candy Caps
          • Saffron Milkcap
          • Indigo Milkcap
      • Boletes
        • Porcini
        • Leccinum
        • Slippery Jacks
    • Recipes
      • Fresh
      • Dried
      • Preserves
    • The Basics
  • Plants
    • Plant Archive
    • Leafy Green Recipes
      • Leafy Green Plant Varieties
    • Ramps and Onions
    • Wild Herbs and Spices
      • Spruce and Conifers
      • Pollen
      • Prickly Ash
      • Bergamot / Wild Oregano
      • Spicebush
      • Golpar / Cow Parsnip
      • Wild Carraway
    • Wild Fruit
      • Wild Plums
      • Highbush Cranberry
      • Wild Grapes
      • Rowanberries
      • Wild Cherries
      • Aronia
      • Nannyberry
      • Wild Blueberries
    • From The Garden
    • Nuts, Roots, Tubers and Grains
    • Stalks and Shoots
  • Meat
    • Four-Legged Animals
      • Venison
      • Small Game
    • Poultry
    • Fish/Seafood
    • Offal and Organ Meat Recipes
    • Charcuterie
  • Recipes
    • Pickles, Preserves, Etc
    • Fermentation
    • Condiments
    • Appetizers
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Side Dishes
    • Entrees
    • Baking
    • Sweets
  • Video
    • Field, Forest Feast (The Wild Harvest)
    • Foraging Videos
    • Lamb and Goat Series
    • YouTube Tutorials
  • Press
    • Podcasts / Interviews
  • Work
    • Public Speaking
    • Charity and Private Dinners
    • Forays / Classes / Demos

Hot and Sour Soup with Wood Ears and Yellowfeet

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Hot and sour soup with wood ear and yellowfoot mushrooms I’ve been saving a bag of wood ear mushrooms my friend from Forest Mushrooms gave me the last time I saw him for a good batch of hot and sour soup for months. Wood ears are special in that, after rehydrating they’re nearly indistinguishable from their fresh state. Finally I got around to using them in a batch of hot and sour soup, and I can tell you—this soup (and plenty of others too) are a traditional use for wood ears, for a reason. 

dried wood ear mushrooms

Wood ears are essential for hot and sour soup.

The only problem was my first batch of hot and sour soup turned out awful. Terrible. I made a nice rich, mushroom stock, simmered it low and slow with dried chunks of Ischnoderma resinosum I’d been cooking with. The stock tasted great when it was done: rich and dark—perfect for soup, right? I also used some of my expensive chinkiang vinegar, which is black like balsamic.

Unfortunately, using those ingredients to make the soup, especially after adding the egg, turned it an off-putting grey-brown, the sort of mud color that happens when kids mix all the fingerpaint. The stock I spent all afternoon making, as well as the jet black vinegar and soy sauce all played a part in the aesthetic failure. 

Hot and sour soup with wood ear and yellowfoot mushrooms

I put a lot more work into the first version I made. Unfortunately it turned the color an unappealing dark brown.

Use a light-clear stock

You want a light, clear stock for this, and, to be honest, I tell you with no shame that grocery store chicken broth is where it’s at here. For the vinegar, you want rice wine vinegar, since, similar to the chicken stock, it’s clear, and bright, but most importantly, light-colored. The second and third batches of this I made using the same template, but with clear-colored rice wine vinegar and light chicken stock were really great. 

The end product is just the tangy bowl of traditional tasting goodness I crave in hot and sour soup–no funny business. I encourage you to get creative with your mushroom varieties though.  

Yellowfoot chanterelles

Bright colored yellowfoot chanterelles are a great addition to just about any soup, but especially brothy ones.

Mushrooms 

There’s lots of fun soup mushrooms out there you could pick from here. For hot and sour soup, I usually see wood ears and maybe shiitakes in my references, but it would be a shame to just use those. Matsutake would be excellent, but I didn’t have any. Yellowfoot chanterelles are wonderful in soup though, and I had a good handful of tiny ones that look great in soup, and keep their color cooked in liquid. 

rehydrated wood ear mushrooms

Wood ears rehydrate like a dream.

Mushroom ketchup 

This is the perfect place to use some of your mushroom ketchup, but not just any mushroom ketchup. Since we’re trying to avoid brown colors here, I use ketchup from light-colored mushrooms that you could make from chicken of the woods, dryad saddles, or lobster mushrooms. Traditionally soy sauce is used, and you can use it in a pinch, but you will definitely taste the mushroom ketchup in the finished product, and it is special. For this I used my koji-cured dryad saddle shoyu. 

Hot and sour soup with wood ear and yellowfoot mushrooms

Hot and sour soup with wood ears (17)
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Hot and Sour Soup with Wood Ears and Yellowfeet

Classic hot and sour soup with wood ear mushrooms and yellowfeet.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Appetizer, Soup
Cuisine: American, Chinese
Keyword: Wood Ear, Yellowfoot chanterelle
Servings: 4

Ingredients

Soup

  • 4 cups light chicken stock
  • ½ teaspoon grated ginger 1/2 inch piece
  • ¼ inch slice galangal optional
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons red hot sauce such as sambal, chili garlic (or to taste, if you use the optional chili oil, go light)
  • 2 tablespoons mushroom ketchup made from light colored mushrooms or use soy or fish sauce
  • 2 oz fresh yellowfoot chanterelles smallest possible or another fresh mushroom like buna-shimeji or shiitake
  • 5 grams dried wood ear mushrooms or ½ cup fresh
  • A few drops of toasted sesame oil

Finishing

  • 5 oz high quality firm tofu diced ½ inch (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch made into a slurry with a splash of water
  • 1 large egg beaten
  • Slices scallions small handful to garnish
  • Red colored chili oil optional
  • Sliced culantro or cilantro optional

Instructions

Prep

  • Whack the galangal if using with the back of a knife to release it’s aroma.
  • Pour hot water over the wood ear mushrooms to cover and allow to hydrate for 15 minutes.
  • Remove the mushrooms, discard their liquid (there isn’t much flavor in it and remember the goal is to keep the color light here) julienne the mushrooms ¼ inch and reserve.

Thicken with cornstarch

  • Heat all the soup ingredients including the mushrooms until simmering and allow to bubble gently for 10 minutes so the galangal can add some aroma. When the soup is hot and simmering, stir in the cornstarch slurry, along with the tofu and allow to thicken, a minute or two.

Add the egg

  • Finally, and very carefully, stir the soup clockwise a few times vigorously, then gently drizzle in the egg moving in a clockwise motion with the still swirling soup. Once the egg has coagulated into beautiful ribbons, toss in the scallions and cilantro, divide portions between four soup cups, drizzle with the chili oil if using and serve.

Related

Previous Post: « Hedgehog Mushroom Soup with Beans, Watercress and Tomato
Next Post: Meatloaf Steaks with Hedgehog Mushroom Sauce »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

James Beard Award Winner

beard award

Subscribe (It’s free)

Forager Chef

Forager Chef

Footer

Instagram

foragerchef

FORAGER | CHEF®
🍄🌱🍖
Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
James Beard Award ‘22
Host: Field Forest Feast 👇
streaming on @tastemade

Alan Bergo
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
Special thanks to the beach in Ashland for hooking Special thanks to the beach in Ashland for hooking it up with on-site garnishes. Beach pea flowers taste strong and leguminous, similar to vetch, or like a rich tasting pea shoot. 

#lathyrusjaponicus #beachpeas #peaflower #foraging #northshore #bts
Great, long day of filming in near the south shore Great, long day of filming in near the south shore of Lake Superior yesterday. 

Blueberries were sparse, and some kind of blight seems to be affecting the serviceberries. Chanterelles weren’t as good as 2020, but they were there. 

Quick dip in the Lake Superior after we broke set was a bonus. 

W/ @barebonesliving  @misterberndt @jesseroesler

#barebonesliving #foraging #lakesuperiorrocks #serviceberries #chanterelles #bts
Green ramp seed make a great lactoferment. Just pu Green ramp seed make a great lactoferment. Just put the green seeds in brine in a jar, leave for 2 weeks. 

After they’re sour they can be water bath processed, although I’ve stored them at room temp without an issue too. 

Finished product is great minced or puréed into places where you’d like garlic, capers, or both. 

Makes a great tzatziki with a little crumbled, dried bee balm. 

#tzatziki #ramps #rampseeds #foraging #fermentation
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Privacy

  • Privacy Policy

Affiliate Disclosure

 I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchases help keep this website free and help with the many costs involved with this site as it has continued to grow over the years. 

Copyright © 2022 ·