We love this soup so much, it’s real comfort food at our house and the recipe has evolved over the years and always changes depending on what we have (always miso, always homemade stock, but any kind of noodle, or mushroom is fine). And best of all it’s a no fail recipe - you don’t need to worry too much about exact quantities. Add some greens, or a tin of creamed corn is also lovely. Enjoy!
JAPANESE CHICKEN + MUSHROOM SOUP
*Chicken stock – enough for as many people as you need to feed, allow about 500ml per person - some of this will reduce during cooking
Half sachet of dashi stock powder - I used Spiral Foods brand
A splash of soy (about 1 tbs)
1 heaped tbs of white miso, dissolved in the hot stock
Shitake mushrooms, sliced (you can leave the little ones whole) – around a handful per person
Oyster mushrooms – as per shitake
1 corn cob – kernals only
Leftover roast chicken or even a ready cooked deli chicken, about a handful per person
1/4 pack of soba noodles, broken into inch long pieces
Spring onion, chopped
Nori and black sesame seeds to garnish
Heat the stock, dissolve the miso and add the dashi. Add soy sauce or tamari and the corn. Add the shitake but don’t overcook. When hot, add noodles, these should only take a couple of minutes. Just before serving add the chicken (to avoid it becoming too broken up and stringy) and the oyster mushrooms.
Another way of doing this soup is to add everything except the oyster mushrooms and chicken - these you can put into the bowl upon serving. The heat will warm the chicken perfectly and cook the oyster mushrooms just enough.
Garnish with spring onion, black sesame and nori.
*A note about stock. I can never throw out a chicken carcass without making stock first. We don’t eat a lot of meat, so a roast chicken is a real treat. Leftover chicken is perfect for this soup. Just pick it off the bones and refrigerate before using the bones to make a delicious stock. You won’t go back to store-bought stock ever again.
