I was walking with the dog though our local woodland and spotted that the Wild Garlic was just appearing. As I was picking a few springs of this I also noticed that the Elder Trees were still laden with Jelly Ear mushrooms, they are really common in this wood and there is only a little of the year they aren’t available.
A number of the mushrooms joined the Wild Garlic in my collection basket – the one that came to hand most easily this time was a dog poo bag, unused I hasten to add!
By this point the dog was despairing, this was the first half decent walk we’d done in a number of days due to a mix of the weather the darkness and my schedule. And I was completely wasting it in her eyes by picking plants and fungi and not throwing the ball! Seriously the ball, the most important part of life to almost any springer spaniel and I’d ignored it for way over five minutes this was unacceptable.
So I popped my small haul into my pocket and refocused my attention onto the bouncing dog at my heel.
Getting home I had a dinner plan that neither of these filled into well, but it was half five, it was cold and depressingly dark outside already. It was perfect warming soup weather.
So I rummaged in the cupboards and found some noodles, a packet of miso and voila. I had a plan for a super quick, super simple, super warming soup that would highlight the best elements of the foraged foods I’d brung home with me.
Wild Garlic and Jelly Ear Ramen
Ingredients
- 1 Sachet Miso Paste
- 1 Nest Fine Noodles – Any type will do
- 1 Handful Wild Garlic Leaves
- 3-5 Jelly Ear Mushrooms
Instructions
- First boil the kettle,
- Rinse your mushrooms and wild garlic in cold water.
- Find your favourite bowl – Mine is a soup or cereal bowl I picked up in Kazakhstan with the most wonderful patterns on.
- Add the miso paste and boiling water to the bowl and mix, add the noodle nest and leave for three minutes – whilst this is sitting
- Shake the water off the foraged ingredients and slice them thinly
- Add the mushrooms to the ramen, and leave for another minute.
- Add the wild garlic, stir.
- Leave to cool until you can eat it savouring the smells.
- Eat in loud slurping mouthfuls enjoying the simplicity and balance of the flavours and the warming feeling inside.
