Chinese Mushroom and Seaweed Soup
A light pan-Asian soup that comes together in ten minutes on ready-made mushroom broth. Button mushrooms and fragrant shiitake carry the umami, the seaweed adds a mineral, sea-air note, and cubes of tofu make it filling without weight. Soy sauce does double duty as seasoning and the main source of salt.
Everything rides on the order you add things, so the mushrooms stay springy and the seaweed doesn’t go slimy: seaweed first for 3 minutes, then the sliced mushrooms and soy sauce for another 5 to 6, and the tofu only at the very end. The “sea kale” called for here is dried kelp — Japanese kombu or wakame is the easy Western stand-in.
- Use firm (frying) tofu; soft silken tofu disintegrates in the broth.
- Swap the button mushrooms for oyster mushrooms if you like, and stir in a spoonful of miso at the end for more depth.
- Don’t let it boil hard once the tofu is in, or the cubes crumble.
Serve right away, since the mushrooms keep cooking in the hot broth, and scatter the green onion straight into each bowl for a fresh lift.
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Ingredients
Instructions
Cut the mushrooms into large slices and set aside. Drop the seaweed into the boiling broth (if the sheets are very large, cut them smaller). Lower the heat and cook the broth for 3 minutes. Then add the sliced mushrooms and soy sauce and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes.
At the end, add large cubes of tofu and add more salt if needed. Serve the soup hot, sprinkled with rings of green onion.
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