Immune System Boosting Hot'n Sour Soup

The other day I was looking in the fridge, trying to figure out what to make when my eyes spied two packs of Shiitake mushrooms. Seeing as how the weather is cooling down here in Istanbul, I decided to make use of the mushrooms to create a warm and soothing soup. Growing up our father used to make an Asian hot & spicy soup, I tried to call him to get his recipe but as I couldn’t reach him I researched online and ended up just throwing together ingredients I had on hand to create a super-immune boosting soup that was a riff on my dad's. I used a list of top anti-cancer ingredients from the appendix in the book Anti-Cancer as inspiration, so that’s how I can say this is a super-immunity soup. Hope you enjoy!

Recipe: Serves 4

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• 2 handfuls sliced green onions
• 2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 1 box silken tofu, sliced into cubes
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3-4 cups of water/vegetable stock depending on how much water you already put into the pot, if you already have about 1 cup, then just add 3 more.
• Ground Black Pepper
• Top with 1 handful of sliced green onions

Optional: For a more crunchy texture in your soup (Bamboo shoots or bean sprouts, added last minute for extra crunch), firm tofu, rice noodles…these could all replace the silken tofu or could be used in addition to for a very thick soup.

• Put ingredients 1-3 into a pot with enough water to cover the ingredients and sauté until translucent but not brown.
• Add in the shiitake mushrooms, the turmeric, cayenne pepper and sauté the ingredients, the mushrooms should release water so don’t worry about adding in any extra water at this point. The spices should release their aromas as the mushrooms cook.
• Add in 1 tbsp rice vinegar, juice of 1 lemon and 3-4 cups of water or vegetable stock.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• Boil for about 15 minutes then simmer for 10.

 
 
 
 
 
    

• Serve with ground black pepper and a handful of sliced green onions. 

 This soup becomes better the day after, so save some for later!

**Guest Post by Belkis Boyacigiller