Wood Ear Mushroom Tom Yum Soup

We were wandering through a beautiful forest the other day and I was admiring the Cortinarius and Phellodon species I was stumbling across, along with a few new fungi to identify at home. I often find that when I’m foraging for mushrooms I’m scouring the ground and pouring over every fallen trunk and branch so much that I forget to look up. During, what I considered to be, an unlikely section of the track for mushrooms I finally looked up at the beautiful canopy of Kahikatea, Mahoe, and Tarata. On some dead, but still standing, trunks there were large clusters of wood ear mushrooms growing from the rotting wood, their slightly transparent gelatinous cap filtering the sunlight.

There were many crispy and withered wood ears as the day had been surprisingly warm and rain-free for this time of year, but we managed to harvest a small handful to have for our dinner. I enjoy the chewy texture of wood ear fungus and have had success in turning it into a plant-based jerky!

Wood ear mushrooms sautéed in garlic and soy sauce is a perfect accompaniment to this fragrant tom yum soup. This delicious Thai recipe is packed full of aromatic spices and delicate flavours, best enjoyed with fresh limes and just-harvested wood ear mushrooms. Enjoy my fellow foragers!

Wood Ear Mushroom Tom Yum Soup

Ingredients: Serves 4-6

Tofu:

1 block firm tofu, cubed

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Mushrooms:

1-2 cups wood ear mushrooms, sliced

4 garlic cloves

1/2 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Tom Yum Soup:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, diced finely

4 stalks lemongrass, halved

1 tablespoon minced galangal

1 1/2 tablespoons ginger, grated

2 red chillies, finely sliced

5 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups vegan chicken stock (Massels)

1 tin coconut milk

2 limes

4 tomatoes, diced

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons coconut sugar

4 lime leaves

3 bok choy, chopped

1 packet soba noodles, cooked

Fresh coriander, chopped

Sesame seeds

1 spring onion, sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius on fan bake and line a tray with baking paper. Lay out your tofu and drizzle with soy sauce and sesame oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside.
2. Heat a medium pan over a medium heat and add the sesame oil. Add the wood ear mushrooms, garlic, and soy sauce, and sauté for 8 minutes. Set aside.
3. In a large soup pot over a medium heat add the olive oil. Sauté the onion and halved lemongrass stalks for 8 minutes. Stir in the ginger, chillies, galangal, and garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.
4. Pour in the stock and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer and stir in the tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and lime leaves. Add the juice of one of the limes and quarter the other and add that in whole. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes before adding the bok choy.
5. Serve tom yum soup over cooked soba noodles and topped with crispy tofu, garlic wood ear mushrooms, fresh coriander, sesame seeds, and spring onion.

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