Thai-Inspired Porcini Soup
The mountains speak to me in full sentences. The first word of each, a sunrise. The wind rattling trees provides commas. Every mushroom is a period, full stop. They are telling me that summer is about to slip beneath autumn.
I feel anxiety and also relief, knowing that the crush of foraging high season is about to end, and my time for hibernation is nearly at hand. Tomorrow, the cold winds will wipe my mind clean before I turn inward. Today, I gorge myself on the fruits of warm days - the last of the wildflowers, cumulus clouds fluffed over crayon skies, sunshine on my bare toes.
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It's rare that I publish a recipe with this many ingredients. Most of them are pretty easily found in an Asian market. If you read through the instructions, you'll see that this soup hardly takes any work - just throw some the ingredients in a pot, cook, strain, then add a few more. The broth is at once flavorful and light, never overtaking the flavor of the fresh porcini (Boletus edulis).
Thai-Inspired Porcini Soup
1 can coconut milk
trimmings from 4-5 small fresh porcini mushrooms
1 shallot, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1" galangal root, peeled and sliced
4-6 lime leaves
3 stalks lemongrass
10-12 cilantro stems
1 tiny thai chile, whole
1 Tbsp. palm sugar
4-5 small porcini mushrooms, sliced
juice from 1 lime
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1/2 c. water
cilantro leaves
thin slices of chile
lime wedges
1. In a medium-sized sauce pan, load up the coconut milk, porcini trimmings, shallot, garlic, galangal, lime leaves, lemongrass, cilantro stems, chile, and palm sugar. Turn the flame to medium, and let the ingredients start to slowly bubble. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let the coconut broth cook for 15 minutes.
2. Strain the broth through a sieve and discard the solids.
3. Return the coconut broth to the pan. Stir in the sliced porcini mushrooms, lime juice, fish sauce, and water. Over medium-low heat, let the soup gently heat until the mushrooms have just cooked through.
4. Serve the Thai-inspired porcini soup garnished with cilantro leaves, slivers of chile, and a wedge of lime.
