Hot and Sour Soup with Wood Ears and Napa Cabbage
From Veganomicon, posted with permission
- 1/2 ounce dried wood ear mushrooms
- 2 cups boiling water
- 8 leaves napa cabbage
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3 teaspoons Asian hot chile oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 1/2 cups thick-sliced white mushrooms
- 1 heaping arrowroot or cornstarch
- 1 cup water
- 1 pound extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into matchsticks
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup scallions
Place the wood ear mushrooms in a bowl and pour boiling water over them so that they are submerged by a few inches. Cover with a plate and let sit for 20 minutes.
To prepare the napa leaves, lay them on top of each other so that they’re spooning. Thinly slice across them widthwise. Set aside.
Pour the vegetable broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot chile oil, sesame oil and white pepper into a soup pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Once the broth is boiling, add the cabbage and the fresh mushrooms. Cook until the cabbage is completely wilted, about 5 minutes.
The wood ears should be ready at this point, so remove them from the bowl, cut into bite-size pieces, and add them to the soup as well.
Mix the arrowroot with the water until dissolved. Add to the soup and stir until just slightly thickened, a minute or two. The soup isn’t going to be very thick, just more cloudy than anything else. But the starch gives the soup a little body.
- See more at: http://www.nomeatathlete.com/hot-and-sour-asian-soup/#sthash.GC4ewQsY.dpufAdd the shredded carrots and tofu, and cook just until heated through, about 5 more minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with scallions to serve.
http://www.nomeatathlete.com
Chinese Tomato Soup
The secret ingredient in this soup is apple sauce. This soup is sold in many Chinese restaurants in the Netherlands. The recipe is very popular with children (no doubt because of the apple sauce), and very simple to make. How simple exactly depends on the stock you use. It is not necessary to make Chinese stock for this recipe, but it does taste good. You can also use "western" home made chicken stock, or even stock from a pot or cube. However: the better the stock, the better the soup. For 1 litre/4 cups soup.
Ingredients1 litre (4 cups/2 pints) chicken stock or Chinese stock
300 gram (1 1/4 cup) tomato purée (a lot, I know)
250 gram (1/2 pound) chicken breast or leftover chicken meat from making stock
1 tsp. powdered ginger
1 Tbsp. Chinese soy sauce(thicker than Japanese soy sauce, more salty than Indonesian soy sauce)
2 to 3 Tbsp. sugar
75 to 100 gram (up to 1/2 cup) thick apple sauce
2 tsp. cornflour (cornstarch, maizena)
75 gram (2 1/2 ounces) thin Chinese rice noodles (mihoen) or bean treads (glass noodles, so-oen)
a few green ringlets of spring onion
optional: pinch of ve-tsin (MSG)
Preparation in advance
Bring the stock to the boil, add chicken breast, simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes on very low fire. Remove meat from the pan, cut it in small pieces. If you use leftover chicken meat from making stock, just cut the meat in smal pieces.
Prepare the rice noodles or bean noodles (look at the package for instructions, these vary). Then rinse the noodles under cold running water and let them drain well. Rice noodles turn opaque white, bean noodles remain transparent.
Make a paste of powdered ginger, corn flour and a tablespoon cold water.
Bring the stock to the boil, add chicken breast, simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes on very low fire. Remove meat from the pan, cut it in small pieces. If you use leftover chicken meat from making stock, just cut the meat in smal pieces.
Prepare the rice noodles or bean noodles (look at the package for instructions, these vary). Then rinse the noodles under cold running water and let them drain well. Rice noodles turn opaque white, bean noodles remain transparent.
Make a paste of powdered ginger, corn flour and a tablespoon cold water.
Preparation
Add to stock: tomato purée, soy sauce, sugar, apple sauce. Bring to the boil, stir until everything has blended. When the soup is boiling, add the ginger/cornflour paste. Keep stirring until the soup has thickened. Add the chicken meat, and simmer for a few minutes.
Up to this moment you can prepare the soup in advance if you like, even a whole day in advance. But if you prepare the soup more than an hour or two before serving, I advise to postpone preparing the noodles until just before serving, or they'll dry too much.
If you are serving this soup to children, it may be a good idea to cut the noodles before serving.
Add to stock: tomato purée, soy sauce, sugar, apple sauce. Bring to the boil, stir until everything has blended. When the soup is boiling, add the ginger/cornflour paste. Keep stirring until the soup has thickened. Add the chicken meat, and simmer for a few minutes.
Up to this moment you can prepare the soup in advance if you like, even a whole day in advance. But if you prepare the soup more than an hour or two before serving, I advise to postpone preparing the noodles until just before serving, or they'll dry too much.
If you are serving this soup to children, it may be a good idea to cut the noodles before serving.
To serve
Bring the soup to the boil again. Divide the rice noodles over the soup bowls, pour the warm soup over them, sprinkle the ringlets of spring onions on top. Serve at once.
Bring the soup to the boil again. Divide the rice noodles over the soup bowls, pour the warm soup over them, sprinkle the ringlets of spring onions on top. Serve at once.
http://www.coquinaria.nl/images/CHtomatensoep3.kl.JPG
