Creamy, smooth and rich, dried lobster mushroom bisque is a great thing to make with your dried mushrooms. Anyone who's cooked with the "lobster of the woods" has probably wondered if they make a good bisque. They do, but they need some help along the way. Read on and I'll walk you through my method.
I like to make this in the winter when I'm using up my foraging stash from the growing season, but you can make it with dried or fresh lobster mushrooms. Dried mushrooms will have a stronger flavor.
Lobster mushrooms (Hypomyces lactiflourum) have a mild taste fresh that concentrates when dried, revealing their subtle shellfish aroma. That said, don't expect a bisque made with dried mushrooms to be as potent as true lobster bisque. What you get is a creamy, rich, dried mushroom soup with the subtle taste of lobster mushrooms.
Stock
The most important thing for a good bisque is the stock. Ideally you'll use homemade chicken stock here.
If you want to keep it vegetarian, vegetable stock will work, but homemade will be better than store-bought. I also don't add carrots to the stock I use in my bisques, which can make it sweet. It's easy to make, all you need are some white onion, carrot, celery, leeks bay leaf, and rice.
Step-by-Step
Chef's Tips + General Info
- A traditional bisque is thickened with rice. Just like roux-based soups, if you leave it uncovered for a period of time it may form a skin. Whisk it to break up lumps or puree with a hand blender before serving if you see lumps.
- Garnishing is fun so be creative. Here I use some extra dried lobster mushrooms I've rehydrated and cooked crisp, along with croutons fried in butter.
- If you have some herbs they'll help to add depth here. A few leaves of torn basil, a scattering of chives, a few chopped leaves of tarragon added to the bowl at the end will bring it up a notch.
- Creamy soups love a drizzle of flavorful oil, a dollop of creme fraiche, sour cream, or a thin slice of herb butter or truffle butter.
- For a "seafood of the woods" combo add sauteed Hericium/lions mane or shrimp of the woods mushrooms as a garnish.
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Lobster Mushroom Bisque
Equipment
- 1 Blender
- 1 3 quart sauce pot or a medium to large pot for soup
- 1 Chinois strainer or fine sieve optional
- Cheesecloth for the thyme and bay
Ingredients
Bisque
- 2 Tablespoons cooking oil
- ½ cup dry sherry or white wine in a pinch
- 4 oz (¾ cup) Celery diced
- 4 oz (¾ cup) Onion diced
- 4 oz (¾ cup) Leek diced
- 2 large cloves garlic or 1 tablespoon chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 5 cups of chicken stock preferably homemade
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup long grain rice
- 2 oz dried Lobster Mushrooms
- Kosher salt to taste
- Hot sauce like tobasco, to taste
Serving (optional)
Lobster mushroom garnish
- ½ oz dried lobster mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
- Fresh herbs such as chives or sliced fresh basil
- A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Fried croutons
- 4 oz 1 cup small cubes of bread for croutons
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
Bisque
- Grind the dried mushrooms to a coarse powder in a spice grinder.
- Wrap the bay leaves and thyme in cheesecloth.
- Melt the butter in a 3 quart sauce pot on medium high heat. Sweat the garlic, leek, onion and celery in the butter for 10 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally. Add a generous pinch of salt (¼ teaspoon).
- Add the paprika and tomato paste, stir, and cook for 3-4 minutes more. Add the rice and dried lobster mushrooms, along with the sherry. Cook, stirring occasionally until the sherry is gone and the pan is nearly dry.
- Add the stock, hot sauce and dried thyme and bring to a simmer. Cover, and cook until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes on low heat.
- Discard the bay leaves and thyme.
- Add the cream.
Pureeing
- Working in batches if needed, carefully puree / blend until smooth. You can use an immersion blender, or a regular blender.
- Add the cold butter to the blender while it purees. Adding butter while the soup purees lowers the friction of the blades and makes the soup extra smooth. For the most smoothest texture, pass it though a fine strainer or chinois after.
- Strain the soup through a fine mesh strainer (optional)
- Double check the seasoning for salt and spiciness (it should be mild) adjust until it tastes good to you, and serve with hot croutons fried in butter. See notes to serve as pictured with a few optional garnishes.
Sarah
I see bay leaf listed in the ingredients but not in the instructions and thyme in the instructions but not in the ingredients. Please clarify. I’m delighted to have lobster mushrooms to use.
Alan Bergo
You add them tied in cheesecloth, simmer, discard before pureeing.
Linda
With fresh mushrooms, to DIE for! But I confess, I did not turn it into a bisque. I tasted it, and it was so good I skipped the bisquin’ and went to eatin.’ 🙂
Bill Gould
Use lobster stock in place of chicken stock.
Alan Bergo
That's a nice idea, but most people don't have that.
Barry Cox
Can you freeze fresh lobster mushroom?
Alan Bergo
Technically yes, but they're not the same, since freezing changes the way that the mushroom holds water. Make sure to cook them first if you want to try freezing them. Making a duxelles and freezing it is just fine.
Olga
Chef, can you use fresh lobster mushroom for this? How much would you use? 1/2 lbs? 1 lbs?
Alan Bergo
Start with 1/2 lb