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Mr. T and I love to hike in the fall. The air is cool, the trees are colorful, the mosquitos are gone, and it’s prime season for mushroom hunting. As the temperature begins to drop, some of our favorite delicacies such as maitake, chicken of the woods, and oyster mushrooms begin to fruit in the forests near our home.
Mushrooms are a real treat on a vegan diet because they are hearty, savory and nutritious. Many varieties of mushrooms that are exposed to sunlight can produce vitamin D (a nutrient that both vegans and omnivores often need to supplement). Mushrooms are also high in B-vitamins, fiber, protein, selenium, calcium, iron and zinc, while being fat-free, cholesterol-free and low-carb.
With a little creativity, mushrooms also make convincing meat substitutes. I’m not talking about your soggy, run-of-the-mill portobello burger that passes for a “veggie option” at your local strip-mall restaurant. I’m talking about creative, savory and satisfying dishes that are packed with taste and texture. You’ve already seen mushrooms take the spotlight in my shredded Barbecue Chicken (of the Woods) Sandwich, and my Barbecue Mushroom Tacos. But as the brisk winds of autumn begin to take over, Mr. T and I need a rich creamy “seafood” soup to warm our souls as we recover from a blustery autumn sail on BeetEater Bay.
Enter wood ear mushroom: a mushroom that grows wild in the Mid-Atlantic and can often be found fresh or dry in Asian grocery stores. You might recognize this mild and slightly chewy mushroom from Chinese cuisine, most popularly in Hot and Sour Soup. It first occurred to Mr. T many years ago that the slightly rubbery texture of this mushroom is a dead-ringer for canned clams. As a result of this epiphany, he then made the most perfect vegetarian clam chowder I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. Recently, I was remembering this culinary achievement fondly and wondered if I could vegan-ize Mr. T’s ingenious recipe.
With a little bit of experimentation and a lot of luck, I managed to re-create Mr. T’s mouthwatering chowder quite successfully, only my version is both dairy- and oil-free. It is also low fat, as I tried to minimize my use of nuts and maximize my use of vegetables to create the creamy soup base.
Tips, Tricks and Substitutions
- I admittedly took some rather shoddy notes while I was developing this recipe, so some of the spice measurements may be a bit inexact. When I got to the simmering phase, I found the soup to be under-seasoned and started adding things to give it some kick. If you find your soup bland after it’s been simmering for a bit, I recommend adding a bit more pepper, mustard powder, vinegar, sherry or salt as needed until it sings.
- Wakame seaweed has kind of a savory, buttery quality, while nori has bit more of a fishy taste. I like the mixture of these two in this soup due to the creaminess, but feel free to use whatever seaweed you have on hand. Also, I prefer to strain the reconstituted seaweed out of the finished product and just use the broth for a more traditional “clam chowder” look, but feel free to add some of the actual sea vegetable to your soup if desired!
- Due to the high water content, this soup also freezes really well, making it a perfect make-ahead meal.
Mr. T’s Creamy Vegan New England “Clam” Chowder
Ingredients
- 1 cup wood ear mushroom
- 1 cup wakame and nori seaweed
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1 15- oz can of hearts of palm sliced
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 6-8 cups boiling water
- 4-6 medium shallots
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup sherry
Instructions
- Place fresh wood ear mushroom, Wakame and Nori seaweed in a mixing bowl and cover with about 6 cups of boiling water. Set aside. (Note: if reconstituting from dry, allow to soak for at least an hour or more before proceeding to the next step).
- Steam the head of cauliflower until the stems can be easily penetrated with a knife or fork.
- Dice shallots finely.
- Peel and cube potatoes and dice celery.
- Add white wine venegar, sherry, salt, pepper, mustard, cashews, cauliflower to the blender. Also add about half of the chopped celery and shallots to the blender and set the rest aside.
- Blend the cashew/cauliflower mixture throughly until very smooth. This may take a minute or two, and you may need to blend the cauliflower in two batches depending on the size of your blender.
- Meanwhile, water-sauteé the potatoes in a large stock pot for 1-2 minutes. Add the celery and the shallots and continue to water-sauteé for another 2-4 minutes, until the potatoes begin to become tender.
- Remove the wood ear mushrooms from the water-soak and loosely chop them into bite-sized pieces, about the size of a quarter. Add them to the hot stock pot. Sauteé for 5-10 minutes, or until they begin to brown.
- Pour the cashew-cauliflower mixture into the stockpot. It will be thick. Reduce heat to a simmer.
- Pour the seaweed water-soak through a strainer into the blender about 1 cup at at time. Cover and pulse to “rinse” out the remaining cream mixture and then pour it into the stock pot. You may slowly add more of the seaweed water to the stockpot until the desired thickness is achieved. Optionally, you may add 1-2 tablespoons of the reconstited seaweed to the pot as well, if desired.
- Add the chopped hearts of palm to the mixture and cover. Simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, or until the soup is heated through and the flavors seem to have melded together. Adjust seasonings to taste.
- Serve with crackers, croutons, or a slice of lightly toasted garlic bread.
- Makes approximately 3 quarts of soup. Stores for 4-5 days in the refrigerator, or for up to a month in the freezer.