Lion’s Mane Mushroom Soup Recipe
Long used in traditional Chinese medicine, Lion’s Mane has a history of culinary and medicinal use. It’s especially popular in Asian countries like China and Japan but is becoming increasingly sought-after in the western world. Today, it’s widely available in supplement form, but as one of the better tasting medicinal mushrooms around, it is often used in haute cuisine.
Lion’s Mane mushroom is described as having a seafood-like flavor, with many comparing it to crab or lobster. It’s sweet, rich, and a bit savory and has a meaty, stringy texture that also resembles that of crab. It readily takes on the flavor of spices and sauces and makes for a great soup recipe.
Our Lion’s Mane mushroom soup has a delicious savory flavor and can be served as a stand-alone meal or a side dish. Plus, as a medicinal mushroom, it could do wonders for your overall health and wellness too. It’s rich in antioxidants and vitamins and is touted for its ability to provide immune system support, reduce stress, improve brain health, and more.
Read on for our step-by-step instructions if you want to learn how to make your very own decadent Lion’s Mane soup.
Lion’s Mane Mushroom Soup: Preparation Tips
Lion’s Mane mushroom is the primary ingredient of this recipe. Fortunately, it’s a super easy mushroom to work with and is incredibly delicious even with basic preparations. You can use either fresh or dried lion’s mane mushrooms, depending on your lifestyle and needs.
If you choose to use fresh mushrooms, be sure to clean them before cooking. However, they should not be washed or wet unless necessary since they are very porous. Instead, simply brush with a special mushroom or paintbrush to remove dirt.
Alternatively, you can use dried (dehydrated) mushrooms. You can either buy fresh mushrooms and dry them yourself or purchase a powdered form of Lion’s Mane. The advantage of dried mushrooms over fresh mushrooms is that they’re easier to store in your pantry. Plus, they can be kept for a longer period of time to be used anytime you feel like making this soup.
Other key ingredients included in this recipe are potatoes, which help thicken the soup, and broccoli, which offers its own array of health benefits. For kitchen equipment, you will want to have a large stock or soup pot nearby.
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Lion’s Mane Mushroom Soup Recipe
This hearty mushroom soup is rich in lion’s mane mushroom may help boost your immune system and provide other therapeutic effects. As an added bonus, it tastes delicious too. It’s a quick and easy recipe to follow and is ready in just over an hour.
| Cook Time | 01:10 |
| Cooking Method | Boiling |
| Recipe Category | Entree |
| Recipe Cuisine | Asian |
| Recipe Ingredient | Lion’s mane mushroom |
| Recipe Instructions | Saute the onion, potato, and garlic. Add Lion’s mane mushroom and other primary ingredients. Let simmer, then add to an immersion blender. Add garnish |
| Recipe Yield | 8 servings |
| Suitable For Diet | Vegan |
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup lion’s mane mushroom powder (2 1/2 cups fresh chopped mushrooms)
- 8 medium chopped potato
- 2 heads of chopped broccoli
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 tbsp cooking oil (preferably olive oil)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups water room temperature or cold
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 vegetable stock cubes
- ½ cup parsley, chopped
- Garnish with lemon juice, lime juice, olive oil drizzle
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- Optional: 1 tablespoon of harissa paste
- Optional: 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika powder
Instructions
- Firstly, dice the onion into small pieces, chop potatoes, and peel and mince garlic cloves.
- Add some olive oil to a soup pot and saute the onion, potato, and garlic. Cook on medium heat and stir regularly to ensure the potatoes don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Next, add other primary ingredients, including lion’s mane, chopped broccoli, sea salt, and black pepper. If using a lion's mane powder, add in a small quantity of water at this point. If using fresh lion's mane, skip the water for now. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix together until the vegetables have become semi-soft, then add the room temperature water and dilute the 2 vegetable stock cubes in hot water on the side. Give the pot a good stir, then bring to a boil. Add in the stock cube mixture with hot water. Add in the optional harissa paste and smoked paprika powder for an extra kick.
- Reduce heat and let simmer for 30 - 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Next, you will want to blend it to ensure a smooth consistency. Simply add the hot soup to an immersion blender or food processor to do so. An immersion blender works best. If you don’t have one, you may want to wait for the soup to cool down a bit before blending.
- Once blended, ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley, a slice of lime or lemon, and an olive oil drizzle.
- Serve and enjoy.
How Lion’s Mane Can Benefit Your Health
Lion’s mane has been used as an overall tonic in Traditional Chinese Medicine for years. Traditional medicines practitioners swear by its usefulness for certain health issues. It’s often purported as a superfood and is known to have the following benefits:
- Reduces stress and anxiety
- Enhances memory
- Improves sleep quality
- Enhances mood
- Boosts the immune system
- Improves focus and concentration
Most notably, lion’s mane is known to improve cognitive function in the long term and support brain health. Specifically, it’s said to have beneficial effects relating to memory, focus, and mood. These benefits are believed to stem from their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
Reduced inflammation improves blood flow, which means your brain receives more oxygen. In turn, the brain is able to perform better, resulting in improved focus. Antioxidants may strengthen brain cells and stimulate the growth of new neurons and, therefore, could promote learning and memory.
Moreover, lion’s mane is a great nutritional source of protein and also contains a significant amount of potassium, zinc, and iron. Additionally, it’s rich in beta-glucan polysaccharides, which are known to be beneficial to the overall health of the human body.
Therefore, some people have incorporated lion’s mane mushrooms into their daily wellness regime. Of course, eating the mushroom every day generally isn’t feasible, which is why mushroom supplements, like capsules, are becoming so popular. Our tasty soup is an excellent choice to consume the mushroom on occasion. But capsules are necessary to ensure you’re getting sufficient amounts of lion’s mane regularly.
Final Thoughts About Lion’s Mane Mushroom Soup
Our lion’s mane mushroom soup is a healthy, hearty dish that makes for an excellent entree or main meal. It’s incredibly tasty but also offers some health benefits given the nutritional value of lion’s mane mushrooms.
Lion’s mane isn’t the only mushroom with health benefits, though. There are several other mushroom supplements that could be beneficial to your health. Be sure to check out VidaCap’s blog to learn more about how our mushrooms may benefit your overall health and wellness.
