I love drinking soup. But because I don’t eat meat/chicken any more, MIL/Mother stopped making soup. Or, if they make soup using pork/chicken, I can’t drink.

Finally, after moving to my own house, I started cooking and I found this recipe in MPH, that gives many creative ideas to make Vegetarian Chinese Soups. You just won’t believe how yummy they are, even without meat!!

Here is Zhu Sheng, Lotus Roots and Dried Black Mushrooms Soup/ 竹笙莲藕冬菇汤. ZhuSheng is a type of mushroom, I heard it grows around bamboo area. It looks and tastes like fishmaw.

Ingredients
1oz Zhu Sheng (1/3 pack)
8 dried shitake mushrooms
600g lotus roots (roughly 1 large, or 3 small)
100g red kidney beans or peanuts
1/4 dried tangerine peel

Method
1. Soak and wash ZhuSheng until soft and does not smell acidic. Scald, rinse and drain it.
2. Soak dried mushrooms until soft. Rinse and drain.
3. Wash lotus roots, remove skin and cut into large pieces.
4. Wash beans/peanuts and soak for 1-2 hours.
5. Soak dried tangerine peel until soft and remove pith.
6. Boil 1.5L water together with tangerine peel.
7. Add all other ingredients and bring to boil again. Reduce to low heat and cook for 2 hours.
8. If you prefer, season with salt (I prefer without).

Will cover in next post, how to turn the lotus root in this soup into another dish. Yes, turned it into a very yummy appetizer!!

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