Korean Mushroom soup

Although not as well-known yet, Korean cuisine is loaded with flavour thanks to its huge diversity of dishes and spices. Here’s a traditional soup that highlights the humble mushroom and is made with one of the most typical of Asian spices: Gochugaru.

As far as the mushrooms are concerned, it’s a mix that can easily be adapted to your preferences: shitake, shimeji or enoki. Shitake mushrooms can be found just about anywhere, like your local supermarket in the veg aisle or in Asian stores. If, however, you can’t locate these, you can replace them with regular white or brown button mushrooms.

Enoki and shimeji are cousins in as far as they both present in surprising-looking clusters. You can use either… or both. If they aren’t to be found, you can substitute with oyster mushrooms.

The only specific ingredient you will need is Gochugaru, a Korean heavily perfumed spice, not too hot and slightly fruity; it’s easy enough to order online or you can find it in an Asian supermarket. Actually, it’s rather easy to substitute with Kashmiri chilli (powdered Indian chilli pepper) or a mixture of paprika and Cayenne pepper.

As this spice is often used in Korean cuisine, you can also use it in one of Maison Marmite’s other recipes: the tofu Dubu-jorim. There’s an idea for a complete Korean menu