Mushroom Egg Drop Soup

Since it has been winter for several months now, and the aroma of meaty, hearty, fragrant mushrooms have been permeating New York restaurants awaiting summer produce, I have found myself desperately craving fungi. So yesterday when I saw a recipe for mushroom soup, I thought "I must." Then a few minutes later I saw a recipe for egg drop soup and I thought, "Even better!" And then I got tired of looking at recipes and decided to create my own amongst these fortuitous inspirations. Here is the fan-frickin'-tastic result of my mad scientist experimentation:

12 cups water
2 carrots (peeled)
2 celery stalks
1 onion (quartered)
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1.5 cups egg noodles
4 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sesame oil
1.5 lb fresh mushrooms
1 cup white wine
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup (or more) soy sauce
1 tbsp chili garlic or sriracha

Fill a stock pot with 12 cups of water. Add carrots, celery, onion, broccoli stalk (optional), bay leaves, garlic, dried porcinis, and a little salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, covered, and allow to simmer for 45 min.

While the stock is simmering, cook egg noodles per instruction and set aside. Beat 4 eggs and set aside. And sauté the fresh mushrooms in olive oil and sesame oil, removing the liquid from the sauté into the stock as it seeps from the mushrooms, so they brown instead of boiling (cooking in a wok is best for this). After 10-12 minutes when the mushrooms have browned slightly, add the white wine and fish sauce and allow to simmer for 5 min.


Strain the stock to remove the vegetables, but take the porcinis out of the vegetables and return to stock. Add mushroom/white wine mixture to stock, and allow to simmer 15 more minutes. During this time, check seasoning, and add salt/pepper, soy sauce, and chili garlic/sriracha to taste. Go light on the last ingredient or it will overpower the flavor of the broth.

Bring the soup back up to a simmer, and finally add the beaten eggs in a very slow steady stream, while stirring vigorously so that they break apart into very small strands. Add the egg noodles. Taste/season again. Serves 8.