A classic alpine combination of flavours, this wild chanterelle mushroom goulash is a special seasonal treat for your taste buds.
Autumn is harvest time, but also a really good time to pick wild mushrooms! Our favourite wild mushroom to forage is the chanterelle, with its unique appearance and flavour. Their scientific name is Cantharellus cibarius but you may also come across them as Girolles in France or Pfifferling in Germany. In the Austrian Alps, these mushrooms can cover whole patches of forest ground in a bright orange when they are in high season. Their characteristic egg yolk colour and often wonky shape gives them their Austrian name, Eierschwammerl, which means 'egg mushroom'.
'Eierschwammerl Gulasch' is an Austrian regional speciality and people pay a good price for it in local inns and pubs. You can buy wild chanterelle mushrooms in markets when they are in season, but we prefer to pick our own. Few things are as pleasing as a warming bowl of wild chanterelle mushroom goulash after spending an hour or two in the misty forest! YUM!
Please be careful when picking any kind of wild mushroom and don't over pick. If you are not 100% sure about what mushroom you found, and that it's edible, don't pick it! It might be deadly poisonous. Even if you think you know chanterelles, it is worth learning how to distinguish them from their potential lookalikes the false chanterelle and the jack o lantern. Better be safe than sorry! It's worth the effort to make sure what you've got your hands on is the real deal. And trust us, self picked chanterelles are worth the effort!
Chanterelles have a deliciously delicate fruity aroma which some say smells like apricots. They are beautifully tender when cooked and have a slightly peppery taste. They can be frozen to enjoy out of season or dried which even intensifies their flavour. But really there's nothing like a fresh bowl of chanterelle goulash with mushrooms you've picked just moments before.
If you can't find chanterelles, you can substitute other kinds of edible mushrooms to make our wild mushroom goulash. Just don't expect the result to be as miraculously wonderful as when using chanterelles. Because they transfer their taste onto the whole pot, the stronger the mushroom taste, the greater the flavour of the goulash.
Mahlzeit!
Bon Appetit!
Paul & Sophie
📖 Recipe
Wild Chanterelle Mushroom Goulash
Ingredients
For the soy chunks
- 1 handful soy chunks
- 1 tsp stock powder or bouillon
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tsp agave syrup
- 1 cup boiling water
For the goulash
- 2 small potatoes cubes of 1-2 cm
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 big handfuls chanterelle mushrooms cut into bite-sized pieces
- cooking oil
- 1 tsp italian herbs
- 2 tsp marjoram
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1-2 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tsp agave syrup
- 1 tsp stock powder or bouillon
- water enough to almost cover
Instructions
- To prepare the soy chunks: Pour the boiling water into a bowl containing the soy chunks, stock powder, soy sauce, lime juice and 2 tsp agave syrup. Mix to combine and let soak. In the meantime, start cooking the goulash.
- Gently fry the onion in some oil on medium-high heat until soft and transparent.
- Stir in chopped garlic and proceed to fry another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms and cook until they start to give off liquid. Yummy mushroom stock!
- Add herbs and marjoram, continue to cook until mushrooms have shrunk considerably or almost all the liquid has evaporated. This will take about 5 minutes on high heat.
- Turn down the heat, add both sweet and smoked paprika (careful not to burn it!), tomato puree and the other 2 tsp of agave syrup. Stir for about a minute or two. If things start to catch a bit at the bottom, just add a bit of water.
- Finally, add the soaked soy chunks, potatoes and another tsp of stock powder. Fill up with water until the other ingredients in the pan are almost covered, but not quite.
- Bring to a boil. Either pressure cook on high for 5 minutes (after the lid vent is sealed) or simmer until the potatoes are tender and the soy chunks are softened.
Notes
Nutrition
This information is calculated per serving and is an estimate only.
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