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ASIAN MUSHROOM AND HERB NOODLE SOUP - (GLUTEN FREE)

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: dinner, lunch, Soup, starter
Cuisine: Asian, Chinese
Keyword: baby king oyster mushrooms, brown sugar, creminin mushrooms, fresh herbs, gluten free, gluten free soy sauce, gluten free spaghetti, maitake mushrooms, mirin, mushrooms, rice vermicelli noodles, shiitake mushrooms
Servings: 6 servings
Author: GFchow @ gfchow.com

Ingredients

Soup

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
  • 2 large shallots thinly sliced
  • kosher salt and ground black pepper to season soup throughout the cooking
  • 1 ½ pounds mixed mushrooms such as maitake, oyster, cremini, shiitake, or white button torn into bite-size pieces (if dirty, clean with a wet paper towel)
  • 1 to 2 fresh red or green chiles such as Fresno or Jalapeno thinly slice (or use 1/2-3/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes), optional or adjust to spice tolerance
  • ½ cup gluten free soy sauce plus more to taste, I use San J
  • 3 tablespoons mirin
  • 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar more or less to taste
  • 8 cups water
  • 8 to 10 ounces rice vermicelli noodles or 2 bundles bean thread noodles

Garnish

  • 1-2 cups herbs washed, dried and rough chopped if desired tender leaves and stems, such as basil, cilantro, mint, chives, parsley or a mix, for serving
  • sesame seeds optional
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (per bowl) optional but really enhances the soup flavor

Instructions

Soup

  • Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots start to turn a nice golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
  • Add mushrooms and half the chile (if using), and season with salt and pepper.
  • Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have softened, released much of their water and turned a deep golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. (Do not skip this step. Browning the mushrooms is an important part of concentrating the flavor of the soup.)
  • Add 1/2 cup gluten free soy sauce, 3 tablespoons mirin, 1 tablespoon brown sugar (more or less according to taste) and 8 cups of water. Bring to a gentle simmer and season with salt and pepper. Continue to simmer uncovered 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, cook the noodles following package cooking directions. Drain noodles and set aside.
  • To serve, use tongs to divide the noodles among bowls and then ladle mushrooms and hot broth over the top.

Garnish

  • Serve with the herbs, remaining chile, sesame seeds and sesame oil (if using). All of these ingredients add layers of flavor to the soup that enhance the overall taste.

Notes

It seems like this recipe calls for a ton of mushrooms but keep in mind they reduce down quite a bit as shown in my photos above.  If you want to use less mushrooms, it's no problem. 
If you can't find five different kinds of mushrooms, don't sweat it.  The important part is to have a variety of mushrooms to create depth of flavor to the soup.  So if you can only find three different kinds of mushrooms at the market, go for it.
Never submerge mushrooms under water to clean them ... use a damp paper towel. 
I love enoki mushrooms and think they would be delicious.  If using, add when adding garnish ingredients.
If you don't follow a gluten free diet, consider using udon or soba noodles in this recipe.
You are in control of the level of spice your soup has.
Tofu, steamed broccoli and/or steamed asparagus would be a delicious addition to this soup.
If there is leftover soup, store it in a sealed container and refrigerate. Store noodles separately in a baggie or container. If you store the noodles in the soup, the consistency of the broth will change from clear to cloudy and the noodles will absorb the broth.
Sesame oil is very concentrated ... a little goes a long way.