Mushroom Hunting

 

Day 126: Armchair mushroom hunting can be almost as daunting as searching the woods, as I've recently discovered. With the pandemic limiting my access to any of the Asian markets I'd normally visit, I've been constrained to mail-order several of the ingredients for my best version of hot-and-sour soup, not the least of which were dried shiitakes and cloud-ears (Auricularia polytricha, aka "black fungus"). Yes, I could have bought fresh shiitakes at a grocery store, but the dried ones have a better flavour in the soup, and since I already needed to order cloud-ears, I bought a bag of shittakes big enough to last me the rest of my life. By the end of the week, I should have the last thing I need: glass noodles. I could do without or replace them with rice noodles, but I prefer the round Korean glass noodles made with sweet potato. It's been over two years since I had a bowl of hot-and-sour soup, so I'm going to make a potful big enough to last a month!