Vegetarian Stock #1: Mushroom Stock

As a vegetarian for 6 years, one craves umami.  Umami, that meat flavour of the Orient as its Japanese name supports, is the ubiquitous and elusive meat flavour we all crave (eventually, strangely isolated by them from seaweed as that terrifying white powder: MSG).   

I disagreed, as a vegetarian, with a large portion of the North American veggie population and never bought into that whole meat substitute craze that uses TVP and a slough of other concoctions to make everything from fake shrimp and chicken, to ground round, to Tofurkey.  Why eat meat when all I crave is Umami?

On the other hand, I loved rich soups and soups like French Onion soup or the Korean Kimchijjigae that were weighty in their meat flavour and light on the meat were perfect targets for my taste-buds.  But, how was I going to make a stock bolstered with enough Umami to make those delicious veggies taste good (like meat).

The Umami Stock for Vegetarians: Mushroom Stock

600g or 7 Portobello Mushrooms

500g or 3 good-sized yellows onions (skins on)

1.5 tbsp black pepper

2 sprigs of sage

4 sprigs oregano

5 sprigs thyme

2.5 stocks celery

2 carrots

2 fresh bay leaves (1 dried)

12 cups water

2 tbsps soya sauce

Dump it all in a pot and simmer for at least 1 hour.  Strain and let cool before bottling.

The soup stock receives its Umami flavour from the mushrooms and the soya sauce, which is rounded out by the heavy herbs, sage and oregano.  Everything else is your stock recipe for stock.

When finished, the stock should be richly flavoured with no bitterness (or maybe a touch from the onion skins) and dark like Guinness.

Now, I was fortunate enough to pick up over a half-kilo of Portobello for $1.50 at a Mediterranean bulk fruit store in Montreal called Sami Fruits, but I have previously loaded up similar recipes with  a cup or two of dried Shiitake mushrooms from the local Asian grocer (also for around $1.50).