Mushroom Sourdough Soup (Kyselo)
If you have some sourdough starter in your fridge and dried mushrooms laying around, this soup is for you! Originally from the Krkonoše Mountains in the Czech Republic, this traditional soup is made with sourdough starter, dried mushrooms, and potatoes. Served with caramelized onion scrambled eggs on top, this soup is hearty enough to make a satisfying main meal.
Mushroom Sourdough Soup (Kyselo)
Originally from the Krkonoše Mountains in the north of the Czech Republic, the traditional Kyselo soup has many regional variations. To complicate things further, there is another traditional Czech soup, Mushroom & Dill Soup (Kulajda), that is quite similar and some newer recipes combine ingredients from both soups and therefore confuse the two, because both soups feature dried mushrooms, potatoes, and eggs. Some might even say that both soups are just the northern (Kyselo) and southern (Kulajda) variations of the same soup. So let's set the record straight, because I bring you an authentic family recipe from my relatives up north.
The base of the Kyselo soup is be made with a sourdough starter, which is usually made with fermented rye flour and left on the counter to rise before making the soup. If you don't have some already and you want to make some, check out King Arthur's Sourdough Starter recipe. The sourdough starter is then combined with a caraway-spiced mushroom stock and cooked until thickened.
Some newer recipes call for cream, which was never part of traditional recipes, because this soup comes from a historically poor region, where cream was an expensive ingredient reserved for special holidays. However, Kulajda has been traditionally made with cream, since South Bohemia was a much richer region thanks to the vast fields and meadows where crops and livestock could thrive, as opposed to the colder and mountainous terrain of Krkonoše. Also for this reason, eggs were sometimes left out out of the soup since they were harder to come by. However, when they were part of the soup, they were served scrambled with caramelized onions—never poached.
Disclaimer
Please be extremely careful cooking and eating foraged mushrooms. Never eat a mushroom that you are not 100% sure of its ID. The best way to learn how to identify and forage for edible mushrooms in your area is to join a local mushroom club or go with a trusted mushroom identifier or a mycologist. Then, even if you are 100% sure of its ID and know it's an edible mushroom, always try small quantities of a new mushroom first before eating a large batch to make sure it sits with you well.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 200 g sourdough starter
- 4 cups (1 l) water
- 200 g dried mushrooms
- 500 g potatoes, diced
- 50 g butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp caraway seed
- salt and pepper
- parsley or chives, chopped
Preparation
- Combine the sourdough starter with 1 cup of cold water in a bowl and mix well. In a separate pot, soak dried mushrooms in 3 cups of water. Let both stand overnight, or for at least an hour, on the kitchen counter.
- Bring the dried mushrooms and the water they were soaking in to a boil. Add 1 tsp of salt, potatoes and 2 tsp caraway seed and bring to a boil. When the potatoes are done, pour the watered-down sourdough starter into the pot and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes or until thickened. Take off heat.
- In another pan, make scrambled eggs. Heat the butter, add diced onion and cook until caramelized and the edges are browned. Meanwhile, whisk 4 eggs in bowl. Add salt and pepper if desired. When the onion is done, add eggs to the pan with onions and stir slightly until done, making sure you have large clusters of scrambled eggs.
- Divide the soup into plates, top with caramelized onion scrambled eggs, and sprinkle with chopped parsley or chives. Enjoy!
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