So I remember in the past, we used to have a friend who came over and always brought something like this, a soup with clear noodles, with plenty of shiitake mushrooms, black funugus (argh, what a terrible name) and lily bulbs. It always really tasted amazing and I wanted to recreate it today.

You can buy a lot of the ingredients like lily bulbs and wood ears in the Asian grocery store, in the packaged dried section, where there’s also dried shiitake mushrooms as well. Unfortunately, this recipe is nothing without those, so please don’t leave them out or substitute.

As for the greens, it’s totally up to you what you want to use. I just used a packet of “spring mix” which had a lot of different greens. Though remember to add them in the very end, because they will turn yellow very easily, and they really don’t need any cooking before they turn completely soft.

Even though there’s noodles in there, I still think this goes really amazing with rice, and would totally recommend you to make some so you can eat it together, otherwise you may feel hungry after, as soup (IMO) is never that filling.

Oh, and when I say small handful, I mean like, what would be about 2-3 tablespoons worth.

Shiitake Mushrooms and Sweet Potato Noodle Soup

1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
1 small carrot
5-6 fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 clove garlic
A small handful dried lily bulbs
A small handful dried wood ears (black fungus)
A pinch of Himalayan/sea salts
3 cups water
1/2 bundle sweet potato vermicelli/noodles
1 tablespoon white cooking wine
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3/4 teaspoon Himalayan/sea salt
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger powder
A pinch red pepper flakes
A small handful leafy greens (baby spinach, baby lettuce, arugula etc)
1 scallion

Be sure to soak the dried lily bulbs and wood ears in water for at least 2 hours. Once done, drain out all the water, rinse it, and drain again.

Soak the sweet potato vermicelli in a large container of very warm water for 2 hours as well. This will soften it and make it easier to cook.

Use a julienne peeler to slice the carrots into small matchsticks. Remove the stems from the shiitake mushroom and slice them into thin pieces. Peel the garlic and chop it in small pieces. Add all of that into a medium saucepan with the lily bulbs and wood ears (if they’re really large, chop them up) and a tablespoon of extra light olive oil.

Turn the heat on high-medium high (6 or right under), stir and fry the vegetables for about 6 minutes or so until the carrots are getting soft.

Add the water and sweet potato vermicelli (drain first) and stir for about a minute. Turn the heat on high and let it boil for 3 minutes.

Then, turn the heat to medium low (4) and add the white cooking wine, rice vinegar, sesame oil, salt, maple syrup, onion powder, garlic powder, ginger powder and pepper flakes. Let it cook for another 8 minutes and turn the heat off.

Add the leafy greens once the heat is turned off, and stir around. Finally, slice up some scallions (I did them slightly slanted so they look cooler) and pour the soup in bowls, and scatter the scallion pieces on top.