Introducing a classic medicinal mushroom soup in traditional Chinese food therapy style. This soup is earthy, cozy and nourishing to the body, mind and spirit.
Recently I received a packet of beautiful reishi mushrooms from Plum Dragon Herbs. I have a collection of other dried medicinal mushrooms already in my pantry. So, it was a no-brainer for me to create this medicinal mushroom soup recipe to harness all the magic of these beauties. Watch the video below for how to make this medicinal mushroom soup.
Medicinal Mushrooms in This Soup
I used some of the most prized and nutritious medicinal mushrooms in this healing soup.
- Reishi Mushroom: helps with immune system, sleep, stress, depression.
- Lion’s Mane Mushroom: helps with nervous system, mental clarity, memory, concentration, anxiety.
- Cordyceps: helps with energy, athletic performance, muscle recovery.
- Shiitake Mushroom: helps with heart health, cholesterol, blood pressure and circulation.
Can I Use Other Kinds of Mushrooms?
Besides the above medicinal mushrooms, you can use any kinds of mushrooms, fresh or dried, in this flexible mushroom soup recipe.
Rehydrating Dried Mushrooms
When using dried mushrooms, be sure to soak the mushrooms in cold water ahead of time to rehydrate them. I soak my mushrooms for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight. Reserve the mushroom soaking liquid to use in the soup, as it contains a ton of flavour and nutrients.
Should I Use Chicken Bones or Whole Chicken?
Mushroom and chicken are a classic flavour pairing. In addition, the healing properties of chicken broth enhances the benefits of the medicinal mushroom soup even further. For this reason, I highly recommend adding bone-in chicken pieces in the mushroom soup.
I prefer using chicken back bones, because I am not going for the meat of the chicken in this dish, and the chicken back bones are full of flavours. You will see the demonstration of this recipe using chicken bones in the video.
If you prefer to eat the chicken meat in the soup, I suggest using bone-in chicken legs or wings because they are more tender. Alternatively, my favourite for a food therapy dish like this one, is using half of a black silkie chicken. See my ginseng chicken soup for what a black silkie chicken looks like and how to use it.
Can I Eat The Medicinal Mushrooms in This Soup?
The shiitake mushrooms, lion’s mane mushrooms and cordyceps are very tasty. You can eat the entire shiitake mushroom and lion’s mane mushroom. When eating the cordyceps, make sure to discard the tough stems. However, reishi mushrooms are too tough to eat. You can discard the cooked reishi mushrooms, as the nutrients of the reishi mushrooms are already released into the broth.
Where to Buy Medicinal Mushrooms?
Shiitake mushrooms and lion’s mane mushrooms are fairly common culinary ingredients. You can find both of these dried mushrooms in Chinese supermarkets. Cordyceps and reishi mushrooms are generally used as herbal medicine, and harder to find. My mother gave me these dried cordyceps years ago. You can look for them at Chinese herbal shops.
I got my reishi mushrooms from Plum Dragon Herbs. They carry a wide variety of raw Chinese herbs. My discount code “YANG05” will give you 5% off your entire order when shopping from Plum Dragon Herbs.
Related: More Nourishing Medicinal Soup Recipes
- Herbal Goat Soup /w Angelica and Goji Berries
- Ginseng Chicken Soup: The Ultimate Nourishing Soup for Energy, Brain Function and Immune Support
- Immune-Boosting Chicken Broth Seaweed Egg Drop Soup
- Natural PMS Remedy: PMS Relief Herbal Chicken Soup (四物汤)
- Adrenal Support Chinese Herbs And Pig Stomach Soup (四神汤)
- Chinese Herbal Healing Oxtail Soup
Medicinal Mushroom Soup with Chicken Broth
Equipment
Ingredients
- 15 grams dried shiitake mushrooms
- 40 grams dried lion's mane mushrooms
- 3 grams dried reishi mushrooms (use discount code "YANG05" for 5% off)
- 1 grams dried cordyceps
- 6 cups water divided, plus more for blanching
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken bones
- 2 inches ginger root sliced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 cup shaoxing wine
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add dried shiitake mushrooms, dried lion's mane mushrooms, dried reishi mushrooms, dried cordyceps, and 3 cups of water. Soak the mushrooms for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight.
- Remove the mushrooms from the bowl. Filter the mushroom soaking liquid to remove the sediment. Reserve the soaking liquid.
- In a large pot, submerge chicken bones in enough water. Bring the pot to a boil to release blood and inpurities from the chicken bones. You should see foams gradually rise to the surface. Turn off the heat. Discard the water and rinse the chicken bones.
- In a large pot, add the blanched chicken bones. Tear the lion's mane mushrooms into small pieces. Cut the shiitake mushrooms if they are too big. Add all the mushrooms, sliced ginger, mushroom soaking liquid, 3 cups of water, salt and shaoxing wine into the pot.
- Cover the pot with a lid. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, then simmer over medium-low heat for 40 minutes. Serve hot.
Video
Notes
- As shown in the video: 15g of shiitake mushrooms is about 6 medium shiitake mushrooms; 40g lion's mane mushrooms is about 3 medium lion's mane mushrooms; 3g reishi mushrooms is about 2 large slices of reishi mushrooms; and 1g of cordyceps is about 3 pieces of cordyceps.
Nutrition
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