Sweet snow fungus soup with Asian pears. This soup contains pears, red dates, and goji berries. It can be either served cold or warm. You can also package it as a daily drink just like bubble teas.

What's snow fungus

White fungus (银耳), an edible fungus that grows on many trees in Asia is also named snow fungus, white wood ear, or tremella. In Chinese traditional medicine, it is used for more than 2000 years for small ailments. And it is believed that white fungus is especially beneficial to females. It also can nourish and moisten the lungs. The most common way of eating snow fungus is to use it in soup.

You may also hear of wood ear fungus or black fungus. Those types are totally different as wood ear mushroom has a crunchy texture and is widely used in savory dishes including stir-frying, soups, or salad.

What does snow fungus soup taste like

Soup with snow fungus has a smooth and gelatinous texture. The texture comes from snow fungus polysaccharides and plant-based gelatin.

The taste can also be influenced by the side ingredients inside the soup. The common and popular side ingredients are red dates, goji berries, lotus seeds, and sometimes dried longan. There are also some extra ingredients that can pair well with snow fungus soup.

1. Snow pears (雪梨), add extra benefits to the soup. And this is what I used today.
2. Sweet potato (紫薯), also called ube can provide the soup with a lovely purple color.
3. Papaya (木瓜)

Purchasing tips

Commonly dried snow fungus soup is provided on the market. High-quality snow fungus should have a surface in yellowish-white. Skip those pure white ones because they might be bleached.

How to prepare it for cooking

The dried snow fungus soup should be soaked in clean water until soft. And the density of the white fungus flower influences the time needed for the soaking process.

Soak the snow fungus until soft and remove the yellow end.  And then cut it into smaller pieces.

I use red dates, pears, goji berries, and rock sugar as a sweetener. Rock sugar is our favorite sweetener for desserts and soups. Red dates bring a lovely dark red color to the soup.

If you plan to make the soup using an instant pot, there is one last but important step. Remove the lid and let the soup boil for another 10 minutes to get the glutinous texture.

For a regular pot, add water to the ingredients. Cover and cook for 30 minutes over medium-high fire.

You can use glass cups to serve this as a drink or use bowls to serve as a soup.