10 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 handful dried porcini mushrooms
1 piece of kombu (giant kelp, ca. 5x20 cm)
2 tablespoons dried wakame pieces
vegetable and sesame oil
1 small onion, very finely chopped
1 carrot, very finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, very finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp finely grated ginger and juice
a few handfuls of fresh mushrooms like shiitake, oyster, enoki, shimeji, porcini...4 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp tamari or darks soya sauce
optionally: soba noodles, silken tofu
Wipe kombu with a damp cloth, place with 5 of the porcini mushrooms in 2 litres of cold waters. Bring to a boil, turn heat down and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove Kombu. Finely blend the dried porcini and 5 dried shiitake mushrooms in a food processor, add to the broth. Boil for 15 minutes, let sit for 10 minutes. Remove whole shiitake mushrooms from the broth, slice and return to the broth.
Fry onion, carrot and celery in vegetable and sesame oil until translucent. Add garlic and mirin and cook for on a minute. Add to the broth.
In the same frying pan, fry fresh mushrooms in vegetable and sesame oil, salt liberally.
Add tamari and ginger to the soup. Ladle soup into bowls, place the fried mushrooms in the middle. Sprinkle with seven spice mix or freshly ground black pepper.
Cooked soba noodles or tofu can be added to the soup in order to turn it into a main dish.
Adapted from: yoshuku, jane lawson
