Words: Kate Leahy / Photos: John Lee & Kate Leahy

It's amazing how quickly a detail lost in translation becomes a much-repeated fact. Such was the case with poison ivy soup. On John’s first trip to Armenia, in 2015, he photographed (and tasted) a deeply green soup while visiting Tufenkian Old Dilijan Complex. On talking more with the chef, Alex Ghazaryan, John learned that soup was made with poison ivy. Poison ivy! So when it came time to put together a preliminary list of recipes to research while in Armenia, poison ivy soup was on the top of the list of curious things we needed to see for ourselves.

Dilijan, it should be explained, is a charming mountain town in Northern Armenia. It’s a vacation destination for hikers and nature lovers, and it’s a stunning place to visit to eat and relax. It’s also known for its food, especially its local pork and foraged foods, like mushrooms and wild greens. But poison ivy soup? We knew we needed to learn more about the origin of the dish (and how they harvested the ivy!), even if we never put the recipe in the cookbook.

So in the spring of 2018, the three of us ventured with two friends to Dilijan to meet up with Alex and get more information. For the people in Armenia we told about our adventure, they shrugged and confirmed that indeed, Dilijan was known for a soup made with banjar. We headed to the Tufenkian kitchen when Alex pulled out a bag of blanched greens. And that’s when we realized that there is, in fact, no such thing as poison ivy soup. Yeghinj isn’t poison ivy. Instead, it’s a heart-shaped leaf with serrated edges. In other words, stinging nettles.

To be fair, there are quite a few herbs in Armenia that defy direct translation (we learned this with jingalov hats). And it does make sense to link a wild herb that stings you if you pick it the wrong way to another kind of plant that causes a great deal of skin discomfort. Besides, the soup itself is so simple that it’s a great example of making something delicious out of very few ingredients. Cooks in Dilijan forage for nettles in the spring and then use it in a soup with it with a little onion, potato, and water. Once the greens are added, they whisk in an egg to give the broth a bit more substance.

That day, Alex demonstrated his version of the soup. Then he made a second soup, swapping out nettles in exchange for the local mild, meaty wild mushrooms, which resemble oyster mushrooms. So here, we’re presenting you with "adventure soup." Take it in a green direction with nettles if you can find them (or mustard greens if you can’t). Or swap the greens out with mushrooms. Or add both. We leave it up to you.

(The last time I made this soup with nettles, I used a mild chicken broth I had on hand as well as some rice and celery— I may have even added some blanched chard I had on hand in the refrigerator. So don’t be afraid to use this base as a way to clean out the refrigerator.)

A note on stinging nettles

Nettles are usually available in early spring. In California, we start seeing them at farmers markets in February. If you want to use nettles in this soup, follow these guidelines: Use gloves to avoid touching the hairs on the stems, which are the source of the sting. Cut the stems away from the leaves and discard the stems. (If the stems don’t look all that thick, you can skip this step and proceed to the next.) What takes away the sting is cooking the nettles. You can do this ahead by blanching the nettles briefly in a pot of boiling water until soft, about 30 seconds. Drain them well. In the recipe below, add the nettle leaves to the soup pot once the potatoes are cooked through.

Adventure Soup

Serves 2 to 4

1 lb [455 g] oyster mushrooms
4 heaping cups [220 g] chopped mustard greens (or nettles, see note)
1 Tbsp sunflower oil or other neutral oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
5 cups [1.2 L] water
1/4 cup [50 g] long-grain rice
1 small Yukon gold potato, peeled and diced
2 tsp kosher salt
1 large egg, beaten with a fork
2 Tbsp chopped dill

If using mushrooms, wash the mushrooms and dry them well. Slice them lengthwise through the stem into quarters or halves, if they are small. If the mushrooms are quite large, trim off the stems and slice them separately.
Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring often, until the onion starts to look translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have given off most of their liquid and have reduced in volume by half, about 4 minutes.
If using greens, heat the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring often, until the onion starts to look translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in the greens. If using both mushrooms and greens, follow the steps for cooking the mushrooms and then stir in the greens at the end.
Once you've prepared the mushrooms and/or the greens, pour in the water, rice, potatoes, and salt and bring the pot to a boil Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked through and the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
Once the potatoes and rice are cooked, stir in the egg and cook until the egg floats to the top, about 1 minute. Stir in the dill and serve immediately. This soup is best the day it is made, but it keeps, refrigerated, for 2 days.