Ingredients
150g shitake mushrooms
150g portobello mushrooms
150g white button mushrooms
150g brown button mushrooms
Olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
120g butter
1 white onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
3 sprigs of thyme
Salt
Pepper
2 leeks, chopped
1/4 cup flour
1 cup white wine
Minced thyme leaves
1 cup half and half
1 cup heavy cream
Chopped parsley for garnishing
Method
1 . Clean the mushrooms with a paper towel. Cut off the stems, chop it coarsely and set aside. Then slice the mushroom caps into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
2 . To make the vegetable stock, heat a large pot with olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Add in the mushroom stems, onion, carrot, thyme, salt and pepper and cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes. Add in 6 cups of water and let it simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Strain and reserve the stock for later.
3 . In another large pot, heat the 120g of butter, add in the leeks and let it cook on low heat for about 20 minutes till it turns slightly brown. Add in the sliced mushroom caps and cook for 15 minutes. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute and then add the wine and cook for another minute. Then add in 4 cups of the stock which you have prepared earlier and simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the minced thyme leaves, salt and pepper and bring to a boil before reducing the heat and simmering for 15 minutes. Lastly, add in the half-and-half and cream and let it simmer through for about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not boil it.
Variation: To save loads of time and effort, you can use pre-packed vegetable stock and skip step 2. Just make sure you have at least 4 cups of stock.
What’s on my mind…
Fresh herbs are expensive in Singapore, so feel free to use dried thyme as a replacement for fresh thyme. I tried this variation and it was equally flavourful. As for the half-and-half, you can replace it with a 1/4 cup of cooking cream and 3/4 cup of milk. This mushroom soup is not very thick in consistency. It is rich, creamy and full of mushroom flavour. If you want a thicker soup, you can actually make the cream mixture I shared for the clam chowder, that will give you a thicker consistency if that is what you desire.
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