Thanis Lim

All Rounder Chef and Food Journalist

Mushroom Barley Soup

People love soups and my mother makes soups everyday. She would make a nice stock base 3-4 hours ahead of time and by dinner time, we'll have a nutritious and tasty soup. Now, when I was overseas and I didn't know how to make soups, I usually go for those CANNED soups *Insert dramtic background music here* and when I had a taste of these soups ... OMG *insert thunder and lightning* I decided to go research more about soups in the internet.

The most famous ones we usually go for are cream of mushroom soup and cream corn soup. Needless to say, canned ones are chucked full of sodium, preservatives and MSG. Not the healthy nutritious soup we were supposed to have. Now here's a nice recipe for you guys to try. It's rather simple and the only hard part is to puree it, which most people might find it a hassle but it's worth all the trouble guys, seriously. You can always make your own changes to the recipe, add extra veggies or something like carrots or celery.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups mushrooms -- sliced
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 2 onion -- sliced
  • 1 pound barley (or 450 grams)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 8 cups vegetable stock -- ( or chickenstock, you can buy it or make your own in advance)
  • 1/4 cup miso -- bean paste --(from your local Asian supermarket)
  • 1 cup shiitake mushrooms -- fresh, julienned
  • 4 shallots (or you can use green onions or chives) -- finely chopped

Makes 6 servings

PREPARATION:

In a large saute pan, cook the mushrooms until they have released most of their moisture but have not browned, about 5 minutes.

Puree the mushrooms in a food processor. (If you don't want to do this, you can just leave them whole or mash them lightly, it's better to puree them of course)

In another saute pan, heat 1/2 the oil over medium-low heat.

Add the onions and saute, until well caramelized, about 20 minutes.

Stir in the mushroom puree and cook for 3 minutes.

In a separate pan, heat the remaining oil and add the barley.

Stir constantly until the barley is an even light brown color.

Add the barley and the bay leaf to the onion mixture.

Stir in the stock and cook at a low simmer for 45 minutes.

Whisk in the miso paste, shiitake mushrooms, and chopped scallions just prior to serving.

Bon Appetit. Recipe courtesy of Chef2Chef.net

Now it's time to say goodbye to these



And say hello to



Simply heaven. I hope this has inspired you to try and make your own Mushroom Barley soup.
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