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Mushroom Soup from Dried Forest Mushrooms
To prepare a beautifully aromatic mushroom soup from dried forest mushrooms, you will need properly boiled wild mushrooms along with the precious mushroom broth they produce during cooking. Before any of that can happen, the dried mushrooms themselves need to be properly soaked according to the traditional method. The result rewards the patient cook with a deeply flavoured rich soup that captures all the woodland character of foraged forest mushrooms even months after the autumn picking season has ended.
The recipe takes about 90 minutes total from start to finish, plus the necessary 2 hours for soaking the dried mushrooms beforehand. The actual hands-on cooking time runs to barely 30 minutes once the mushrooms are properly rehydrated. Serve the finished soup with a generous swirl of cool sour cream and a sprinkle of fresh chopped dill or parsley for the proper traditional Slavic experience. A slice of dark rye bread on the side completes the meal beautifully for a hearty winter lunch.
Ingredients
Show ingredients
- dried forest mushrooms - 50 g;
- peeled potatoes - 3 pcs;
- barley flakes - 3 tbsp;
- peeled onion - 1 pc;
- vegetable oil for frying;
- fragrant pepper - to taste;
- vegetable seasoning - to taste;
- clarified butter for frying.
Preparation
- Soak the dried mushrooms thoroughly first using the proper traditional method (soak in cold water for at least 2 hours). To prepare the soup, boil the soaked mushrooms in fresh water. Pour clean water over the rehydrated mushrooms in a deep pot, place over medium heat and bring up to a gentle boil. Once the water boils, continue cooking the mushrooms for another 40 minutes to extract maximum flavour into the broth.
- Carefully drain the cooking water into a separate container. This precious mushroom broth will be used in cooking the soup itself, so do not throw it away. Transfer the cooked mushrooms to a deep plate ready for the next step in the recipe.
- Cut the peeled potatoes into small even cubes. Smaller cubes cook through faster and produce a more cohesive finished soup texture than larger chunks would in the broth.
- Finely chop the peeled onion into very small even cubes. Smaller dice releases more flavour into the broth and dissolves more thoroughly during cooking, leaving behind only the sweet character of the onion.
- Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add a generous spoonful of clarified butter. Add the chopped onion and sauté gently until soft and lightly golden. The brief sautéing develops a deeper richer flavour than raw onion would contribute to the soup.
- Add the cooked drained mushrooms to the softened onion in the frying pan and sauté everything together briefly. The combined cooking step lets the mushrooms pick up the savoury character of the buttery onion.
- Pour two litres of fresh water into a deep cooking pot and bring it up to a rolling boil over high heat. The fresh water will combine with the reserved mushroom broth in the next step to form the proper foundation of the soup.
- Pour the reserved mushroom broth from step 2 into the boiling water in the pot. The combined liquid produces a beautifully concentrated mushroom-flavoured base for the soup that captures all the woodland character of the dried forest mushrooms.
- Add the diced potatoes to the boiling combined broth and add a few fragrant peas (allspice berries) to taste. Bring everything back up to the boil and continue cooking for 15 minutes until the potatoes are properly tender when pierced with a knife.
- Add the sautéed onions and mushrooms from the frying pan to the pot. Continue cooking until the onion sinks to the bottom of the pot, which signals that the onion has fully released its flavour into the broth and softened completely.
- Once the onion has sunk to the bottom of the pot, add the barley flakes to the soup. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes to let the barley flakes hydrate and thicken the broth slightly into a more substantial consistency.
- Add the vegetable seasoning to taste and continue cooking for another 5 minutes to let the flavours merge fully. Stir gently to prevent any sticking or burning at the bottom of the pot during this final cooking step.
- The mushroom soup from dried forest mushrooms is now ready to serve. Ladle the finished soup into deep warm bowls and serve with a generous swirl of sour cream and a handful of fresh chopped dill or parsley scattered over the top. Bon appetit!
Cooking video
Tips and Tricks
Tip 1. Always reserve the soaking water and the cooking water from the dried mushrooms, since both contain enormous amounts of concentrated mushroom flavour that would otherwise go to waste. Strain the saved liquids through a coffee filter or several layers of cheesecloth to remove any small bits of grit or sand from the dried mushrooms before using in the soup. The strained liquid forms the proper flavour foundation of the dish.
Tip 2. Choose properly aromatic dried wild mushrooms such as porcini (boletus) for the most authentic deeply flavoured finished soup. To prepare your dried mushrooms perfectly for this soup, follow our detailed step-by-step guide on how to soak dried forest mushrooms for the proper traditional rehydration technique that produces the most flavourful mushrooms.
Tip 3. Substitute pearl barley or even small pasta shapes for the barley flakes if you cannot find them locally, since the flakes simply add body and texture to the finished soup. Add the substitute earlier in the cooking time to allow proper softening, since pearl barley takes considerably longer than instant flakes to cook through to the proper tender doneness in the broth.
Tip 4. Serve the finished soup with a generous spoonful of sour cream and a handful of fresh herbs scattered over the top for the proper traditional Slavic experience at the table. For another beautifully traditional Russian-style soup to add variety to your weekly menu, try our refreshing pike perch fish soup at home as an elegant celebration alternative.
FAQ
What kinds of dried mushrooms work best?
Dried porcini (boletus) mushrooms are considered the absolute king of mushroom soups, since they produce the deepest most aromatic broth with the most pronounced earthy woodland character. Other excellent choices include dried morels, dried chanterelles, dried shiitake or even a mixed package of various dried wild mushrooms. Each variety brings its own slightly different flavour profile and aroma. Whichever variety you choose, look for whole or large pieces rather than crumbled bits for the best result.
Can I use fresh mushrooms instead?
Yes, fresh mushrooms work in this recipe but produce a noticeably milder less concentrated finished soup than dried mushrooms do. Use about 500 grams of fresh mushrooms in place of the 50 grams of dried, since dried mushrooms are roughly ten times more concentrated by weight. Skip the soaking step entirely and start by chopping and lightly sautéing the fresh mushrooms before adding to the broth. The cooking time stays roughly the same.
How long does this soup keep?
Store the cooled soup covered tightly in the refrigerator for up to three full days for best results. The flavours actually improve significantly on the second day as the mushrooms, potatoes and barley continue to merge into a beautifully harmonious whole. The soup also freezes brilliantly for up to three months in airtight portion-sized containers, which makes it ideal for batch cooking on a quiet weekend afternoon for use during a busier week ahead.
Can I make this soup vegan?
Absolutely. Replace the clarified butter with the same quantity of vegetable oil or olive oil for sautéing the onions, and skip the sour cream garnish at serving time (or use a plant-based dairy-free sour cream alternative). The mushroom broth itself is naturally vegan and the rest of the ingredients work perfectly well without any animal products. The finished soup tastes just as deeply flavoured and satisfying in its vegan form as the traditional version with butter and dairy.
