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Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Jim brought this spicy soup to an FFSC Holiday Potluck. It was outstanding!

by Jim Maley

(dynamic)

Hypomyces lactifluorum. © samzanita (CC-BY-NC) (from inaturalist.org, obs. 188533088)

Method

  1. Sauté onions in 2 Tbsp. stock, and salt lightly. Cook until translucent and soft (add stock or water if needed, so the pan doesn't go dry).

  2. Add mushrooms, 1 tsp. dill, ½ cup stock or water, garlic, paprika, and the cooking sherry. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

  3. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly until the roux turns a light golden color and develops a nutty aroma (2 or 3 minutes).

  4. Add milk. Cook, stirring frequently, over low heat until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes).

  5. Stir in mushroom mixture and remaining stock. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes.

  6. Just before serving, taste and adjust with salt, pepper, lemon juice, sour cream, and if desired extra dill (1 tsp).


Serve garnished with parsley.

Recipe contributed:

January

2006

Hungary is the focal point for peppers in Eastern Europe. In Eastern and Central Europe, dried red pepper powder is called paprika. Like most Eastern Europeans, Hungarians also love wild mushrooms. Hungary is one of the few countries that traditionally mixes sweet paprika with wild mushrooms.


I have used various Hungarian paprika varieties in the soup, but Pride of Szeged Hot Paprika works out well and is readily available. This powder allows you to carefully upgrade heat at the end to provide a lot of zest, but at a level adjusted to prevent overpowering the mushrooms.


I have learned (the hard way) that many do not like the spice in this soup, or in any recipe for that matter. Stirring in paprika powder in individual cups to suit tastes seems to work well and puts the onus on the user to get the right level of heat. Too much heat wipes out the flavor of the mushrooms.


Lately I also let people add their own room temperature sour cream to the soup, as many want to avoid excess fat. Remember though, strong mushrooms, heat, sour cream and lots of dill are key to this recipe variation!


Use strong and earthy mushrooms to stand up against hot paprika. I like to use mushrooms with good texture, like lobsters, and some nice strong ones such as boletes. Honey mushrooms work well, shiitake mushrooms are a good bet, too.


For this recipe, I was originally inspired by a Hungarian Mushroom Soup recipe in Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, which is also quite good.

Objective:

Soup

Total Time:

1 hour

Yield:

Serves 4

Suggested Mushrooms:

  • Lobster mushroom (Hypomyces lactiflourum)
  • Porcini (Boletus edulis, Boletus regineus, Boletus rex-veris)
  • Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)

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Ingredients

12 oz. lobster or porcini mushrooms, sliced

2 cups onion, chopped

2 to 4 tbsp. butter (as needed)

3 tbsp. flour

1 cup skim milk

1 - 2 tsp. dried dill weed (or ½ cup fresh)

1 Tbsp. paprika (see note above)

1 Tbsp. crushed garlic

1 tsp. salt

2 cups stock (e.g., vegetable broth and/or strained liquid from rehydrated mushrooms, if using dried mushrooms)

2 Tbsp. cooking sherry

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

½ cup sour cream

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