Chinese Soup

Well, I've been sick with my first cold of the season and my mind is on soups. Last night I made Garlic Soup and it was just what El Doctor ordered! Thinking about when I've been sick, reminded me of how Mom would make soup. To me her best was pea soup and turkey rice soup using the Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers.

I created this recipe out of my desire to have a soup similar to those we find in Chinese or Vietnamese restaurants: it had to have a thin consistency, be based on chicken broth, but be full of flavor and pack some heat as well. There are many variations with this base recipe: add pork or shrimp, other fresh vegetables, etc.

Ingredients:

6 cups chicken stock
1 bunch green onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp light soy sauce or tamari
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
4 fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced thin
2 cups water
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 pound uncooked peeled shrimp (or frozen calamari, scallops, etc.)

Instructions:

1. Place chicken stock in large saucepan over high heat.

2. Add oil, soy sauce, green onions, ginger, mushrooms and cilantro.

3. When simmering, add water and rice.

4. When soup returns to boil, add shrimp and remove from heat.

Serving:

For a complete dinner, I serve this with potstickers that have been fried in hot five pepper oil.

Tweet

Crab Legs with Five Pepper Oil

This is a Saturday night dish to serve with a good bottle of Gewurtztraminer wine, some garlic noodles (or fresh lemon pasta with reggiano parmesan) and plenty of napkins! I often double or triple the recipe when guests are over and place the whole pan on a turntable so everyone can dig in!

I never made this dish for Mom since I knew she couldn't tolerate the pepper oil. But it illustrates the confidence she gave me to go out and find unusual, unfamiliar ingredients and create my own dishes!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. frozen king crab legs

1/2 cup five pepper oil

2 bunches green onions, chopped - green parts only

1 bunch cilatro, chopped

1 large piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

25 cloves garlic, chopped

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

2. Place oil in large roasting pan and place in hot oven for 3 minutes to warm the oil. Do not let the oil smoke.

3. Add all the chopped vegetables. Return to oven and cook for 5 minutes.

4. While vegetables are cooking, snap crab legs at joint areas. Sometimes I even run a pair of kitchen scissors down the softer areas.

5. Add crab legs and toss in the oil/vegetable mixture.

6. Bake for 30 minutes and stir the crab every 5 minutes. Vegetables should not be dark - you may need to watch the oven closely after 20 minutes.

Serving:

This dish serves 2 - 3 with leftovers for lunch the next day. Or leftover crab can be removed from the shells and used in an omelette or scrambled eggs the next day.

Tweet