Cordyceps flower ✦

Fleur de cordyceps

What it is

In the wild, Cordyceps militaris grows out of a buried moth pupa; the orange spikes sold for soup are raised in sealed jars on cooked rice, with no insect anywhere near them. In one generation they went from laboratory curiosity to Cantonese soup pot.

In the kitchen

A generous handful colours two litres of double-boiled soup; add them whole at the start and they give up their orange slowly. A hard boil turns the colour muddy and the spikes to thread - hold the pot at a bare tremble.

Goes with

Chicken Jujube Goji berry Pork Lotus seed Snow fungus Fresh ginseng Ginger

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