• Hot and sour medley of mushroom soup

    Serves: 6
    Cooking Time: 30 mins

    Ingredients

    • 30ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
    • 1 onion, finely chopped
    • 2 sticks lemon grass, chopped
    • 30ml (2 tbsp) galangal or ginger
    • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
    • 1 red chilli, seeded and chopped (optional)
    • 500g assorted mushrooms (button, portobello, shiitake and porcini)
    • 50g dried wild mushrooms, soaked in 250ml boiling water and liquid reserved
    • 6 lime leaves
    • 1L (4 cups) good quality chicken or vegetable stock
    • juice and zest of 2 limes
    • 5ml (1 tsp) fish sauce
    • 45ml (3 tbsp) very dry sherry (do not use full- or medium-cream sherry)
    • fresh coriander, chopped, to serve

    Instructions

    1

    Heat the oil in a large stock pot. Add the onion and lemon grass and sauté until the onion is translucent.

    2

    Add the galangal, garlic, chilli,mushrooms and lime leaves and cookfor a further 10 minutes.

    3

    Add the reserved wild mushroom liquid, the stock, lime juice and zestand fish sauce.

    4

    Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the dry sherry just before serving.

    5

    Serve over ramen or udon noodles and scatter with plenty of chopped, fresh coriander.