Polish Cream of Mushroom Soup

Get the Recipe: Polish Cream of Mushroom Soup

This soup is a labor of love, but worth every minute. Homemade Mushroom and beef stock, roux with beef tallow, a ton of extra umami ingredients, and a sour cream finish, make this soup the ultimate comfort food.

5 from 2 ratings

Yield14 cups (3.3L)

Prep1 30

Cook12

Active Cook1

Total14 30

Ingredients

Mushroom Stock:

2-2½ cups dried bolete mushrooms (either Polish Borowik Szlachetny or Italian Porcinis)
½ cup dried cremini mushrooms (See Notes)
½ cup dried shiitake mushroom slices (or 4-5 small caps)
4 cups hot water

Beef Stock:

1 medium sweet onion, quartered
1½ lbs marrow bones (neck, shank, or feet)
1½ lbs oxtails
3-3½ lbs beef back ribs
2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup canola oil
½ a head of garlic
12 cups water
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs of thyme

Mushroom Soup:

1 cup sweet onion, finely diced (about 1 medium onion)
1 cup celery, finely diced (about 4-5 stalks)
½ cup carrots, finely diced (about 2 medium carrots)
24 oz package button mushrooms, de-stemmed and sliced
24 oz package baby bella mushrooms, de-stemmed and sliced
12 oz package portabella mushrooms, de-stemmed and sliced
1 teaspoon marmite
½ tablespoon white miso paste
1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon: Beef Base, (optional)
6 cloves of roasted garlic or 4 fresh, finely minced or mashed
1 teaspoon mushroom powder
6 cups beef stock
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon beef fat, (from the stock)
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
4 cups mushroom stock
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
1 lb box/bag of orzo
4-6 oz sour cream
Additional salt to taste

Equipment

1 medium bowl
1 medium soup/sauce pot
1 ½ sheet baking tray
1 silicone baking mat
aluminum foil
1 large Dutch oven or stock pot (7+ quarts/6.5+ liters)
1 fat separator
1 knife
1 cutting board
1 disposable tea bag or kitchen twine
1 Fine Mesh Strainer
tongs
food processor (optional - time saver, see notes)
1 Whisk
1 small bowl or cup
1 Wooden or Silicone spatula with a flat edge

Print Recipe

Instructions

Mushroom Stock:

Add the dried mushrooms to a medium bowl. Then bring 4 cups (1.4L) of water to boiling temperature on your stove top. Once you see bubbles, remove the pot and pour the hot water over the mushrooms. Leave the bowl on the counter to let the mushrooms reconstitute. The water will become dark brown as this happens. It is best to let this sit for at least 12 hours, to get the best flavor. Once that is done, take out the mushrooms in handfuls, squeezing them out over the bowl as you go. The rehydrated mushrooms can be cut up and added to the soup later if you wish. (I find them a bit rubbery, so I tend to toss them.) Pour the stock through a fine mesh strainer and set aside for later.

Beef Stock:

While the mushrooms are rehydrating, make the beef stock. First, begin by preheating the oven to 400°F (204°C). Next, cut the top and bottom off of the onion and quarter it. Set half of the quartered onion and the sliced top and bottom aside for later. Place the other pieces of the onion along with the beef bones you have selected for your stock onto a baking sheet. Coat with oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to fully coat the bones and aromatics.
Now, cut the top off half a head of garlic and place it on a sheet of aluminum foil. Pour oil over the garlic cloves and wrap the whole thing in the foil. Place the foiled head of garlic onto the tray with the seasoned beef bones and then bake for 45-60 minutes.
Once baked, add everything into a stock pot and fill until all of the bones are covered with water (about 12c or 2.8L). Turn the burner on to medium. While the water heats up, collect as much beef fat as you can from your baking sheet. To do this, tilt the tray over a bowl and let it all run down the sheet. Once you are left with just drips, set the bowl aside (see notes about keeping using beef fat) and deglaze the pan.
To deglaze your baking sheet. Boil and pour ¼c (60ml) or less of water onto the sheet where most of the browned bits have stuck. With a spoon (preferably wooden or silicone) gently scrape at the soaking fond until it dissolves into a warm brown pan sauce. Pour that into the stock pot and add in the herbs (see notes). Once you see little bubbles form on the surface of the stock, turn down the heat to medium-low and let it gently simmer. If you see any scum forming while the stock cooks, skim it off.
Cook for 6-8 hours. Taste the stock every hour, after the 4-hour mark. You will be able to tell a difference in beef flavor once the bones' marrow releases and the joints' gelatin dissolves. The stock will taste beefier and will have a thicker mouthfeel.
When done, use tongs to take out the biggest bones and pour what remains through a fine mesh strainer and into a bowl. Let the stock sit for at least 30 min and spoon the fat layer off with a ladle. You can also strain into a fat separator to make things easier.
Keep 6 tbsps (⅓c or 65g) of the beef fat for a roux. Place both the strained stock and the separated fat in the refrigerator if you don’t plan to use them within an hour.

Mushroom Soup:

Technically, only the beef stock needs to be made to start the soup. So, you can start this step if your mushroom stock is still sitting.
First, prep all of your ingredients. It’s important to have everything ready, as the steps go quickly until you add in the stock(s). Dice the onion, carrots, and celery. Keep them in separate bowls and set them aside. Next, prepare the mushrooms. To clean the mushrooms, de-stem them by pushing and then pulling the stem to pop them free of the cap. Once all are de-stemmed, run each mushroom under the faucet, rubbing your thumb over the cap to remove any dirt. Lastly, slice the mushrooms into ¼ -½in (.6-1.2cm) slices. They can be piled into one big bowl and set aside. Now, mix the marmite, miso paste, beef base (if you are using it), roasted garlic or minced garlic, and mushroom powder together into a small bowl and set that aside as well. Lastly, make sure your beef stock is warmed into a liquid and your flour and beef fat are measured out.
Start the roux in your stock pot or Dutch oven. On a stovetop, turn the heat to medium and add in the beef fat. Let the fat fully melt and then pour in the flour. Use a flat spatula or whisk to continuously move the roux around the pot for roughly 15-20 minutes or until the roux begins to take on an off-white/blonde color. Dump in the onions and salt and mix for 1 minute. Then add in the carrots, sautéing for another 3-5 minutes. Celery goes in last, cooking for an additional 5-7 minutes. Now, mix in the umami paste from earlier. Once you see the paste and other ingredients stick to the bottom of the pot, brown, and get difficult to scrape up, pour in the beef stock and mushroom stock (if the mushroom stock is ready).
It's time to dump in the sliced mushrooms. If there isn’t enough space, this can be done in increments. Once a portion of mushrooms cook down, add some more until they are all in the pot. Turn your burner to low-medium low and allow it to come to a very gentle boil. Add in the black pepper and tamari and let everything cook for 30-45 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, cook the orzo in a separate pot. Make sure to salt your water and cook the orzo past al dente (about 12-15minutes). You want the pasta ready to be spooned directly into a bowl of soup. Make as much as you are going to need in one sitting. For reference, 1 box is enough for the whole pot, so you will only need about 2-4 tbsp (28-56g) of dry pasta per bowl of soup. When done, strain the pasta and set aside.
Time to finish the soup. Add the sour cream to a large cup or small bowl. Very slowly, ladle some soup broth into the sour cream. Stir immediately and continuously, tempering the sour cream. Once the sour cream has enough broth that it is watery and very warm (most times I’ve more than doubled the volume of ingredients in the bowl) whisk it back into the soup pot to taste. Again, make sure you are incorporating a little at a time and whisking constantly. Salt the soup to taste.
To serve, spoon the soup into bowls and add in as much orzo as you'd like. Feel free to top with extra sour cream and/or chopped chives, dill, thyme or parsley. Honestly, drizzling some chili crisp on top is delightful if you aren't worried about staying too traditional. I mean this recipe also has miso paste, shiitakes, and tamari, so why not keep going? :) Enjoy!

Notes

Both of the stocks can be made days in advance, to help break up the cooking time. The stocks can be stored up to 4 days in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer.
With pre-made stocks, this recipe takes between 1.5-2 hours, depending on your knife skills. As a guide, it’s probably about 30-60 minutes of prep, 30 minutes of active cooking, and 30 minutes passive cooking.
PREP TIME SAVER: If you don’t care about perfectly sliced veggies, blitz your mirepoix (carrots, onions, celery) in a food processor, one ingredient at a time. First cut them into largish chunks, so they don’t get stuck, and then pulse until they are finely chopped and mostly uniform in size.
If it seems weird that I add the thyme and bay leaf to the beef stock and not the soup. I did it so I don't have to find them among the mushrooms. :) Now you know!
One final thing. This is roughly a 16-serving (8oz or 240ml per serving) recipe, so expect leftovers! The soup can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen for 2 months before the sour cream gets a bit wonky during reheating. (see FAQ for reheating instructions)
Always slowly temper hot into cold, when the cold item will cook, curdle, or scorch if it gets too hot too quickly. This same technique is used with things like ganache, fruit curds, ice cream bases etc.

Nutrition