A good mushroom barley soup needs no meat, because you can make it with dried porcini, which can be reconstituted in hot water in less than ten minutes, giving you not only the best-tasting mushrooms you can find outside of the woods but an intensely flavored broth that rivals beef stock. A touch of soy sauce is untraditional but really enhances the flavor.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Soak the porcini in 1 quart of very hot water. Put the olive oil in a medium saucepan and turn the heat to high. Add the shiitakes and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown. Add the barley and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to brown; sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Remove the porcini from their soaking liquid (do not discard the liquid); sort through and discard any hard bits.
Step 2
Add the porcini to the pot and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add the bay leaf, the mushroom-soaking water, and 5 cups additional water (or stock if you prefer). Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the barley is very tender, 20 to 30 minutes. If the soup is very thick, add a little more water. Add the soy sauce, then taste and add more salt if necessary and plenty of pepper. Serve hot.
