Mushroom hot and sour soup

So soup, yeeeaah sooooup. I have tried for years to embrace a warming bowl of the nourishing stuff, well I can't I'm just not that into it, I need some texture in my life ya know?! This recipe is perfect for that; it's layered with lots of bits and pieces to jazz it up, its also surprisingly filling and will keep for a few days in the fridge perfectly well.

Serves 6

1 or 2 red chillies

A big knobby piece of ginger

sea salt

White pepper

150 g shitake mushrooms

150 g chestnut or white mushrooms

1 x bunch of coriander

225 g bamboo shoots, drained

Vegetable or sunflower oil

Light soy sauce

Dark soy sauce

Rice wine vinegar

1 x teaspoon honey or agave syrup

1.5 litres hot organic vegetable stock

2 or 3 heads of bok choi

2 x handfuls baby spinach

2 spring onions

½ bunch of chives

Peel the garlic and remove the seeds from the chillies, pop them in a pestle and mortar or a small food processor if you have one (baby food processors are high for this). Peel the ginger and slice into a few chunks, chop the stalks off the coriander bunch. Lob that in with the garlic, ginger and chillies with a sprinkle of salt and pulse or give it a good bash to make a paste for the base of the soup.

Make sure your mushrooms are free of any grit and dirt, then finely slice them and drain the bamboo shoots and slice those up too. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok and fry the mushrooms until golden brown for 4 or 5 minutes, the trick here is not to move the mushrooms around too much as this releases their water and can make them soggy. Once the shrooms have browned, add the paste you made and fry off for a further 2 minutes.

You can now add two tablespoons of light soy, one tablespoon of dark soy, four tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, a good blob of honey. Give it all a right good mix, add the veg stock and bring to a gentle boil. Turn the heat down and pop a lid on, let it reduce down for about 10 minutes.

Once the soup has reduced a little, add the bok choi, baby spinach and most of the chives, let them cook through for literally a few minutes.

Ladle into bowls and top with spring onions, the remaining chives, a few coriander leaves and sliced chillies. 

I recommend a bib, and maybe some kitchen roll if you are a dribbler like me.....

Enjoy x