BARLEY

HOT AND SOUR MUSHROOM AND BARLEY SOUP WITH BROCCOLINI

There’s something that clicks inside us all the minute the temperature drops to real winter chill. The click happens and then it’s soup season. This soup, with its broth of tantalising sweet and sour flavours underpinning the earthy mushrooms is the answer. Barely cooked vegetables provide crunch, and the barley adds creamy richness. And what’s the best way to achieve the perfect, personal-preference balance of sweet and sour? Taste and taste again. It’s an instinctive way of cooking.

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes | COOKING TIME: 10 minutes | SERVES: 6

¹/₃ cup (80 ml/2½ fl oz) olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon finely grated ginger

400 g (14 oz) mixed mushrooms, roughly chopped

sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper

¾ cup (150 g/5½ oz) pearl barley

6 cups (1.5 litres/52 fl oz) chicken stock

2 cups (500 ml/17 fl oz) water

1 bunch thin broccolini, thick ends trimmed

juice of 1 plump lime

1 handful bean sprouts, trimmed

1 handful coriander (cilantro) leaves

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until softened but not coloured. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until their liquid is released. (Add 1–2 tablespoons of water if the mushrooms begin to stick to the bottom of the pot.) Add the pearl barley, stock and water. Bring to the boil then lower the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes, or until the barley is tender. Add the broccolini in the last 10 minutes of cooking – it should be just tender. Add the lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish with the bean sprouts and coriander.

TIP Try enoki mushrooms, with their almost sweet taste and crunchy texture, which are best used raw or added to dishes at the last moment. Grown and packaged in clusters, they need to be picked apart from the main cluster before using, then woody parts of the stems trimmed. Choose mushrooms that are firm and white, and reject any that are discoloured or slimy-looking.