Slurp Mode
Blackbird Spyplane publishes their first "Soup of the Fall" recipe—a Mixed Mushroom and Roasted Perilla Powder Soup by Clara Lee and Eddo Kim—after Jonah reflects on his paradoxical relationship with soup: he loves it when served but never orders it himself. The newsletter also shares the foundational Anchovy Broth recipe and includes vegan alternatives.
Summary
The transcript opens with Jonah from Blackbird Spyplane musing on a curious behavioral gap: despite repeatedly experiencing profound pleasure from eating soup, he never consciously seeks it out at restaurants, attributing this disconnect to some mysterious cognitive blind spot. This introspection was triggered by an exceptional bowl of soup he enjoyed at a parklet outside Day Moon bakery in San Francisco's Outer Sunset during a release party for the cookbook "Korean Soups" by Clara Lee and Eddo Kim, the former operators of the restaurant Queens who now sell fermented products under that name.
The specific soup—Mixed Mushroom and Crushed Perilla Powder Soup (Beoseot Deulkkae Guk)—becomes Blackbird Spyplane's inaugural "Soup of the Fall," joining the newsletter's seasonal recipe tradition that has previously featured summer pastas and cocktails. Clara and Eddo explain that mushrooms peak seasonally from September through November, making this an ideal time to incorporate harder-to-find wild varieties.
The article then provides detailed recipes for both the soup itself and its base Anchovy Broth. The soup combines pureed tofu with broth to achieve a cream-of-mushroom-like velvety texture without dairy, flavored with roasted perilla powder for earthiness and nutty warmth. The preparation involves two stages: making the broth first, then cooking the mushrooms and aromatics before combining. The authors note the soup improves after refrigeration as flavors coalesce.
The Anchovy Broth recipe details a traditional Korean preparation requiring cleaning and drying anchovies and pollock, then simmering with kelp, shrimp, vegetables, and aromatics for 30 minutes. The transcript also provides vegan-vegetarian substitutions using vegetable broth and Yondu seasoning in place of anchovy broth and fermented tuna sauce. Storage instructions specify refrigeration for up to 5 days or freezing for up to 2 months, with ice cube tray options for convenient portioning.
About this episode
The undeniable pleasure of the Spyplane Soup of the Fall
Key Insights
- Jonah observes that he experiences profound pleasure when soup is served to him by others or presented on fixed menus, yet this pleasure never translates into him consciously ordering soup for himself at restaurants, suggesting a gap between experienced satisfaction and prospective decision-making.
- Clara and Eddo intentionally designed their mushroom soup to replicate the textural qualities of cream of mushroom soup without dairy by pureeing and mixing in tofu, demonstrating how ingredient substitution can preserve sensory experience across dietary frameworks.
- The authors note that the soup tastes measurably better after overnight refrigeration, indicating that some soups benefit from time for flavor saturation and element coalescing rather than immediate consumption.
- The traditional Korean Anchovy Broth is positioned as foundational and multipurpose—described as the 'quintessential Korean broth'—suggesting that mastering one core broth technique enables numerous applications beyond the featured soup.
- The inclusion of vegan-vegetarian alternatives using Yondu and vegetable broth reflects an approach to recipe accessibility where umami depth and fermentation character can be preserved across different dietary restrictions without fundamental recipe restructuring.
Topics
Transcript
Mach 3+ city intel for traveling the entire planet is here . Understand and resist Broke Behavior . Our newly revamped, intel-rich guide to “Beautiful Life-Improving Spyplane Staples” like deodorant, detergent, tees, bedding, skincare, socks and more is here . Our guide to the best natural-fiber activewear is here . We don’t run ads, and we don’t use affiliate links on any clothing. We do use them for books on the independent bookseller Bookshop. We broke down our position on affiliate links and spon here . This means the only people we owe anything are our readers. — Jonah & Erin Give a gift subscription Pleasure: we crave it, and yet we deny it to ourselves in all kinds of…
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