Spicy Oyster Mushroom Soup

This easy and quick oyster mushroom soup is another great mushroom soup from Czech cuisine! It has a pleasant spicy flavor that will warm your body and soul during the cold months.

➜ What can you expect

This oyster mushroom soup is based on a popular Czech recipe for tripe soup. However, since there are many naysayers to offal dishes, oyster mushroom soup is a great way to sample Czech cuisine without being forced to eat tripe or other interstitials.

Czech oyster mushroom soup is deliciously spicy, flavored with typical spices such as crushed caraway seeds, paprika powder, or dried marjoram. The soup is fairly filling and with a slice of rye bread, is rich enough for lunch or dinner.

➜ Ingredients you will need

To make homemade oyster mushroom soup from scratch, you will need the following:

• Fresh oyster mushroom; I recommend the oyster mushroom variety. These look like clusters of mushrooms with small stems.
• Yellow kitchen onions
• Fresh garlic
• Pork lard; the best frying fat used by Czech grannies. A fine substitute for lard is sunflower or canola oil.
• Caraway seeds; crushed. In the Czech Republic, you can buy crushed caraway seeds in any grocery store. However, you can easily crush caraway seeds at home - read how to grind spices by hand (even without a mortar and pestle).
• Sweet paprika powder; my fav is Hungarian paprika powder
• All-purpose flour; to thicken the soup
• Vegetable broth or just water. Oyster mushrooms can make a mild mushroom broth for soup. The liquid should be lukewarm.
• Salt
• Black pepper; ground
• Dried marjoram; one of the typical Czech spices

➜ Equipment

I like to make soups in a cast iron Dutch oven with a thick bottom and a solid lid. I used an 8-inch (20 cm) diameter cast iron pot with a capacity of about 2 quarts (2 liters) to prep this soup according to the basic recipe.

➜ How to make oyster mushroom soup

Preparing the mushrooms and veggies

STEP 1: Peel and finely chop the onion. Strip the garlic cloves of their skins and crush or press them.

Wash and drain the mushrooms under running water. Remove the stiff ends from the stems. Cut the remaining oyster mushrooms into bite-sized slices.

Making soup base

STEP 2: Heat the lard in a suitable saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and oyster mushroom bites. Fry for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

STEP 3: Reduce the heat to one-third. Add paprika powder, crushed caraway seeds, and all-purpose flour. Stir and fry for about half a minute, no longer.

STEP 4: Remove the pot of sautéed vegetables and mushrooms from the heat. Add about a cup of lukewarm vegetable broth or water and stir well to prevent lumping. Add another cup and stir again. Return the soup pot to the heat and add the remaining liquid. Whisk well.

Finishing the oyster mushroom soup

STEP 5: Season with salt and ground pepper. Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. 

STEP 6: Finally, add the dried marjoram and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Stir one last time and the oyster mushroom soup is ready to serve!

MY TIP: Rub the marjoram between your fingers beforehand to add more flavor to the soup.

➜ Serving

This soup is hearty enough to replace lunch or dinner. Add a slice of fresh rye bread and you have a comfort food that not only tastes great but will keep you full for a long time.

Sprinkle the soup with chopped green parsley for a nicer presentation when serving.

➜ Storage tips

• If you have leftover soup, let it cool completely and refrigerate. It will keep for about four days.
• Soups thickened with roux are usually even thicker the next day. Heat your portion in a saucepan on the stove and stir in a tablespoon of water.
• The soup also freezes well. Transfer chilled soup to an airtight container and place in the freezer. Use within three months.

More Czech mushroom soups:

• Kulajda
• Bramboracka Potato Mushroom Soup
• Kyselo sourdough soup