A smooth soup made with dried morels, fresh chestnut mushrooms and a little potato, finished with cream and a few whole cooked morels. Includes rinsing, rehydration and thorough cooking.
Times are estimates and include soaking and preparation; some tasks can overlap. Check hydration and doneness as described.
Recipe illustrations; measure ingredients using the written quantities.
Pick over and briefly rinse 20 g dried morels. Cover in a roomy bowl with about 600 ml lukewarm drinking water, approximately 30–40°C. Following the pack, soak for 15–30 minutes until caps and stems are soft throughout. Continue checking if firm; cover and refrigerate at 5°C or below if preparation is extended or interrupted. Discard the soaking water and rinse the honeycomb crevices individually. Halve larger morels lengthways to inspect inside, keeping a few clean small ones whole for serving.
Put 500 ml vegetable stock and the rehydrated morels in a small pan. Bring to the boil, then simmer steadily with the lid slightly ajar for 40–60 minutes, following the pack, until fully cooked. Keep the morels in liquid and top up with hot drinking water if needed; do not let the pan dry. Softening or a brief fry is not cooking: never eat raw or merely soaked morels. Reserve a few cooked whole morels. Strain the cooked liquid through a fine sieve, leaving gritty sediment behind, and retain the clear cooked broth.
While the morels simmer, melt the butter in another saucepan. Soften the onion and garlic over low heat for about 5 minutes without browning. Add the fresh chestnut mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Add the potato and remaining 250 ml stock, cover with the lid slightly ajar and simmer for 20–25 minutes until the potato is completely tender, adding a little hot water if necessary.
Add the fully cooked morels, except those reserved for serving, and the strained cooking broth to the soup base. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and blend carefully with an immersion blender, following its instructions and keeping the blade submerged. Do not put boiling soup in a sealed cup blender, where steam pressure can cause splashing.
Stir in 100 ml single cream and heat gently until hot throughout, without boiling the cream vigorously. Taste the cooked soup before adjusting salt and black pepper. Add a little hot drinking water if too thick. Divide between four starter bowls, top with the reserved cooked morels and a little parsley.
Contains milk (butter and cream); some stocks also contain celery, wheat or soya. The Xianyitang dried-ingredient packs state that they are packed in a facility also handling peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and soya. Check the actual labels of every brand used.
Keep rehydrated fungi at 5°C or below and cook promptly. Divide soup into shallow containers, cool promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 48 hours or freeze. Reheat only once, stirring until steaming hot throughout.
