Delicious Mushroom Broth: Nourishing and Tonifying
Give a Boost to Your Home Cooking by Adding Mushroom Broth
Mushrooms have been used as culinary ingredients for centuries. By nature, mushrooms work to nourish and tonify your body’s systems for supporting health, especially during the transition seasons of spring and fall.* Using immune supporting tonics in the form of mushroom broth is both a delicious and easy way to absorb your nutrients!
Mushroom Broth — Just as Supportive as Bone Broth, Vegetarians Rejoice!
Most people think of homemade chicken noodle soup as their first go-to nourishing meal when feeling under the weather. This is partially due to the full, bone-in chicken that is being simmered along with the rest of the ingredients. Bone broth has been coveted for its support for muscles, high mineral content for our bodies to absorb, and yield important compounds, such as collagen, glutamine, glycine, and proline.*
Don’t eat meat, or don’t have a trusted butcher from whom to source organic beef or chicken bones? Have no fear - mushroom broth may be your next best go-to.
Mushrooms, when extracted or boiled for a long duration (an hour or longer), provide comparable nutritional value in supporting immune function, remineralizing the body, & supporting healthy inflammation response.* Packed with nutrients, and a subtle umami flavor profile, mushroom broth can be consumed hot or cold after initial boiling. It pairs well with everything, from simple miso soups to being used as a base for vegetarian gravy.
Prepared for Thousands of Years: A Traditional Chinese Mushroom Broth Blend
When looking for inspiration for a nutritious, Fu Zheng (translated loosely as "to support normality") is the way to go. Fu Zheng is sometimes referred to as "Yang Yin Fu Zheng," in acknowledgment of its balancing properties to both yang and yin. When this powerful broth is ingested, it supports the immune system.
Fu Zheng therapy nourishes, tonifies, and invigorates the body’s qi (pronounced, “chi”). Fu Zheng recipes vary, but all tend to include sweet, slightly bitter, and slightly warming herbs and mushrooms. At Mushroom Revival, our favorite recipes include fruiting bodies of cordyceps, reishi, shiitake, and maitake mushrooms.
Most of the health benefits linked to Fu Zheng mushroom broth are directly due to a particular class of compounds prevalent in mushrooms: polysaccharides, and, more specifically, beta-glucans! Beta-glucans are abundant in mushrooms, and refers to the particular configuration of polysaccharides therein.
Savory Mushroom Broth Recipe
Based on Fu Zheng tonifying formulas
Ingredients:
- 2-4 quarts of water, limited only by the size of your stock pot
- 5-6 slices dried reishi mushroom
- 7-8 fresh or dried shiitake mushroom
- ½ cup dried maitake mushroom, chopped (1 cup if fresh)
- ¼ cup burdock root, chopped
- 10 sliced dried astragalus root
- 1 2-3 inch rootlet of ginseng
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 2-3 scallions, chopped
- 3 stalks celery with tops, chopped
- 2-4 cloves garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 inch strip of dried Kombu seaweed OR 2 tbsp Wakame seaweed
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Optional: Miso paste, eleuthero root, turmeric root, and/or sesame oil
Instructions:
- Combine all ingredients except cordyceps mushrooms in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cover, and let simmer on low heat for 2-3 hours. Keep an eye on the water levels; you may want to add a bit more. The broth will be rich, feel free to further dilute to extend the life of the stock.
- Near the end of your boil, add in cordyceps mushrooms, as these delicate mushrooms only need to be boiled for 15 minutes for optimal extraction.
- After 2-3 hours total, remove from heat and strain your mushroom broth through a strainer or cheesecloth.
Supportive Dose: 3 big mugs of mushroom broth per day, or 2-3 bowls of soup using this broth as the base.
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