Cream of Shiitake and Broccoli Soup

September 16, 2006 at 6:47 pm (C (2 stars, okay, edible), Cruciferous rich, Miso, Rebecca Wood, soup, Vegetable dishes)

This recipe is from the cookbook The Splendid Grain by Rebecca Wood.

2 stalks broccoli
1 tsp. unrefined toasted sesame oil
3/4 tsp. ground coriander
1 small onion, diced
3 shiitake mushrooms, trimmed and chopped
5 Tbs. oatmeal
6 cups vegetable stock
6 Tbs. white or yellow miso
2 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
lemon juice

1. Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the coriander and saute for 1 minute, or until aromatic. Add the onion and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, or until slightly softened. Add the shiitake and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, or until slightly softened. Add the broccoli stems and the oats and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the broccoli stems soften slightly. Add just enough stock to cover the vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the broccoli is very tender.
2. Put the miso in a bowl, add 2/3 cup of the remaining stock, and puree with a fork. Set aside.
3. Pour the soup into a blender and puree. Return to the pot. Add the remaining stock, broccoli florets, thyme and pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium-hihg heat. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the florets are just cooked. Stir in the miso puree and a dash of lemon juice. Simmer for 1 minute. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve hot.

My notes
I used 1 tsp. of olive since I’ve heard it’s bad to heat up sesame oil, then added the sesame for flavor at the end. I wasn’t sure what she mean by trimmed mushrooms, but I cut off only the tips of the mushroom stems. Again, I wasn’t positive what “5 Tbs. oatmeal” meant, so I used rolled oats. I didn’t have fresh thyme, so used a number of stalks of thyme that had been dried very recently. I thought 6 Tbs. of miso sounded like way too much, so I started out with just 3 Tbs. The soup was sufficiently salty for me, but perhaps one more Tbs. would have enhanced the flavor even more.

I was intrigued by the combination of coriander and thyme. In the final product, I’m not sure I would have been able to pick out either spice, but the flavor was pleasant. I used a stick blender, and so the texture wasn’t totally uniform, but the chunks didn’t bother me. I’m not sure about leaving the florets unblended though. They very quickly started to turn a putrid green from sitting in the hot soup and I found the texture a bit distracting. Maybe if I had cut the florets into smaller pieces?

Rating: B-