Lion's Mane, Shiitake & Dried Oyster Soup

Why people make this soup

Nourilo’s inspiration for this soup came from a friend returning from Yunnan with a box of wild lion’s mane mushrooms — but when he cooked them, they had a noticeable bitter edge that his usual lion’s mane did not. The lesson: wild-harvested mushrooms bought through tourist channels often differ significantly in quality and taste from the reliable cultivated varieties used in Chinese food medicine. The flavour of this soup, when made with good-quality ingredients, is genuinely delicious — savory, fragrant, and deeply satisfying.

The combination of lion’s mane (a mushroom with a centuries-long reputation for supporting stomach health), shiitake (an immune-supporting culinary staple), soybeans (rich in plant proteins and phytoestrogens), and dried oysters (a natural source of zinc, taurine, and minerals traditionally associated with liver and blood nourishment) creates a broth that hits many wellness notes at once. It is a favourite recommendation of Nourilo for menopausal women and older adults with a weakened digestive system.

Method

1. Soak all dried ingredients (lion’s mane, shiitake, soybeans, dried oysters, red dates) for 20–30 minutes and rinse well.
2. Remove the stems from the soaked shiitake mushrooms.
3. If using lean pork, blanch briefly in boiling water and rinse.
4. Place all ingredients in a pot with 2.4 L of water.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for approximately 3 hours until reduced to about 1.2 L.
6. Serve the broth and eat the soup ingredients — the mushrooms, softened soybeans, and oysters are all delicious.

Nourilo’s Tips

The key to this soup is patience — 3 hours of slow simmering allows the soybeans to soften completely and the mushroom and oyster flavours to meld into the broth. If those with dampness or skin conditions want to modify the recipe, replace soybeans with flat beans (bian dou) or long beans (dou jiao) — both are gentler on dampness-prone constitutions. For dampness with excessive sweating, adding 19 g of astragalus (bei qi / huang qi) improves the soup’s ability to support surface defence energy.

This soup is also suitable for those taking blood pressure medications — Nourilo has confirmed this directly for readers who asked.