Cordyceps Soup

This warm and nourishing cordyceps soup is delicious all year round. A chicken broth base is gently seasoned with turmeric and sesame oil. Sweet and nutty cordyceps flowers (a type of mushroom) are slowly simmered. Drizzle egg into the soup to create an egg flower/swirl. Top with white pepper and fresh cilantro. Healthy and delicious!

Why This Recipe Works

This is a simple soup that starts with chicken broth. You can use homemade chicken broth or buy chicken broth from the store. No judgements, either one works!

We heat up the broth and season it with two ingredients: turmeric powder and sesame oil.

The turmeric gives the soup a beautiful yellow-orange color (and is good for you!)

The sesame oil adds a bit of richness and that unforgettable nutty flavor. We use sesame oil in many recipes, it is one of my favorite ingredients.

Next we add the cordyceps, which is a type of mushroom. You can use fresh cordyceps or dried cordyceps. If using dried cordyceps, make sure to first rehydrate the mushrooms in warm water for 15 minutes before adding them to the soup.

Simmer the cordyceps in the soup until they're cooked. This takes about 5-10 minutes.

Then it is time to make the egg flower!

Are you familiar with egg drop soup and the egg is swirled directly into the soup? I was fascinated by egg drop soup growing up. I often wondered how they got the egg to "flower" in the soup. Turns out it is super easy.

All you have to do is beat an egg in a bowl. You'll need two hands for this. One hand slowly drizzles the egg into the soup pot. The other hand keeps stirring the soup with a ladle while the egg is being added.

Most important: stir the soup in one direction only.

I like to go counter clockwise, but any direction work as long as you stick to one direction. Pretty neat right?

After that, all you need to do is season with a little salt (how much is up to you), and white pepper. You can use black pepper, but white pepper is much more fragrant and tasty. We love white pepper and use it more often than black pepper. It is worth keeping in your pantry.

Cordyceps

Cordyceps are mushrooms. They come in fresh and dried forms. They are popular in Traditional Chinese Medicine and believed to have many health benefits.

Recipes can refer to them as cordyceps or cordyceps flower, but they mean the same thing.

The fresh ones can simply be cleaned and used. The dried ones need to be rehydrated in warm water before using.

They are quite beautiful and definitely stand out. Cordyceps are vibrant orange in color. They're long and thin and have this savory-sweetness to them that pairs well with many flavors.

Once cooked, the cordyceps retain a slight crunch and have a noodle-like texture.

In Chinese cooking, cordyceps are most common in soup and steamed dishes (like steamed chicken and cordyceps, I'll do a post on this soon!) There are endless ways of cooking with cordyceps. We've made cordyceps pasta and cordyceps scrambled eggs...a very delicious and quick breakfast.

Ingredients

• Chicken broth
• Turmeric powder
• Sesame oil
• Cordyceps (fresh or rehydrated dried cordyceps)
• Egg
• Salt and white pepper
• Cilantro

Step by Step Directions

Let's get for cooking:

Boil and season.
Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a medium size pot. Add the turmeric powder and sesame oil. Stir to mix.

Add cordyceps.
Add the cordyceps and let the mushrooms cook for 10 minutes over medium heat.

Salt and pepper.
Season the soup with salt and white pepper. How much salt and pepper you use is up to you (and also depends on the chicken broth you're using). Some people like just a little white pepper, I love it with lots of white pepper.

Serve and enjoy.
Spoon the soup into individual bowls and top with cilantro. Serve hot. Eat and enjoy ^_^

P.S. Even better if you have a bowl of rice on the side to make this a complete meal!

FAQs and Tips

Cordyceps Soup Recipe

See below and enjoy ^_^