Today’s recipe is White Fish & Mushroom Broth. This is a deeply nourishing soup that rehydrates your body, supports your energy, and helps you feel stronger and more restored—especially if you’re tired, run down, or your digestion isn’t feeling great.
Ingredients:
- White fish fillets (black cod, chilean sea bass, halibut, etc.), 2 large fillets
- Fresh ginger, about 2 large "thumbs"
- Dried porcini mushrooms, a handful
- Dried shiitake mushrooms, 5 pieces
- Kombu seaweed, 1 large or 2 small pieces
- Carrots, 2
- Leek, white part only
- Broccoli, 1 head
- White rice, 2 cups
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Water
Preparations:
Optional: Place the fish fillets in a bowl with the chunked ginger, cover with cool water, and set aside to soak for an hour. This ginger soak is used to purify the fish and remove any lingering fishy smell; the ginger and soaking water will be discarded later and not used for cooking.
Place the dried porcini mushrooms in a separate bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside to soak.
Wash the carrots and leek, and slice them thinly. Chop the broccoli into bite-sized pieces.
Measure two cups of white rice. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then place in the pressure cooker with three cups of water and set it to cook.
Cooking Instructions:
In a pot, add water along with the kombu and the dried shiitake mushrooms. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for about ten minutes. After this time, discard the kombu, and set aside the shiitake mushrooms, keeping the broth in the pot.
In a separate pot, pour in some of the porcini soaking liquid. Remove the fish from the ginger water, discard the ginger and soaking liquid, and cut the fish into medium-sized pieces. Add the fish to the porcini liquid and bring gently to heat. Let the fish cook for about five minutes, just until tender.
Meanwhile, return to the pot with the kombu–shiitake broth and add the chopped broccoli, sliced carrots, and leek. Let the vegetables boil gently for about five minutes, until just tender.
Now that the shiitake mushrooms are cool enough to handle, remove their stems and discard. Slice the black mushrooms. Remove the porcini mushrooms from their soaking liquid and slice them thinly as well.
To serve, ladle the vegetable broth into bowls. Add some of the vegetables, a few pieces of fish, and some of the sliced mushrooms. Finish each bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of good salt. Serve together with the freshly cooked white rice.
Welcoming Food Books
The two-volumes of Welcoming Food by Andrew Sterman explains Chinese medicine food energetics in clear, practical terms, with simple recipes and step-by-step guidance for using food to maintain or return to optimal health.
