Chinese Soup With Tofu
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I am not sure where we found the original recipe but we have adapted it to be a household favorite! This is a mild but flavorful soup that goes well with spring rolls for a lighter meal.
- Ready In:
- 45mins
- Serves:
- Units:
Nutrition Information
10
People talking
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 medium carrots, cut into matchstick
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 teaspoons ginger, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 6 cups water
- 1⁄4 cup soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
- 12 ounces firm tofu
- 2 cups bok choy, chopped
- 2 cups Chinese cabbage, chopped
- 1 cup snow peas, cut in half
directions
- In a large pan, saute the carrots, onion, ginger and garlic in oil until onion is tender.
- Add the water, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While soup is simmering, prepare tofu. Remove excess water and slice tofu into three large slabs. Fry in oil until both sides are browned. Drain on a paper towel. Cut tofu slabs into 1/2 inch cubes.
- After soup has simmered for 15 minutes, add tofu cubes, bok choy, cabbage and snow peas. Simmer for 10 minutes.
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Some of the reviews said the taste was "off" - I think this may be the sesame oil. Others said it was flat. I think this is in part western taste buds sampling eastern ingredients. I modified it with this in mind - my Chinese wife says it doesn't taste Chinese - but it was good. I used about a pound of chicken cut into strips and marinated in Chinese cooking wine for about 30 minutes. I browned garlic, onion, and added mushrooms and olive oil in a skillet instead of the traditional wok. Then I browned the chicken by first putting the whole marinate and chicken in the skillet and then draining off the juice and saving it. I put everything in a large pot and covered it 2/3 full with water and brought it to a boil. I added 2 habeneros, seeds removed, for flavor, and half a teaspoon of beef stock (I didn't want to open the chicken stock). Once it's boiling it is reduced to simmer - not too much time is required as the meat doesn't have to be softened, and the flavors mix quickly. All I had for greens were celery - so I added this early to soften it. At this point you have quite a bit of flavor already - traditional Chinese cooking uses the base ingredients for most of the flavor - western cooking tends to overwhelm flavor - hence the perception as flat by westerners. My wife calls simple chicken soup as "clean food" Salt is added absolutely last and very little is needed. What I did was add an small squirt of Chinese cooking vinegar - which is distinctly different from western vinegar. I added a small squirt of sesame oil. You don't have to be as careful with white soy sauce if it's not salted. The off taste probably comes from the sesame oil if you are not familiar with it. The trick is to start with a very low dose and then taper these flavors gently up. They will quickly mix - you don't have to stew them a long time to get the right flavor. The colored vegetables are used for freshness and flavor and as in stir fry they are added last. If your greens are mushy and yellow - you cooked them to long. I like them still green and a little crispy. I added a tray of diced tofu, firm, not browned, a handful of chopped green onions, and one tomato sliced as half wedges for green and red color. The tofu is added absolutely last as it is soft. In china it is said that if you are weak, you are tofu. The use of meat and beef base get around the flavorless, meatless aspect of tofu. The habeneros give it a slight zing. Don't overdo the sesame oil. Remember - the visual effect needs non mushy colorful vegetables at presentation. Onion and garlic with sesame oil will be a large part of the scent - and browned meat will augment - at the price of browning of the broth. I used at least a cup of corn starch at the end. Salt was added only in the bowl - and a tiny amount over did it. These ingredients are already strongly flavored. You can play with varying the soy sauce, sesame oil, and vinegar - as these are key ingredients for Asian flavor - I have never seen my wife use a measuring cup. It is done to taste.
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I was looking for a good Chinese soup recipe I could use for cabbage soup diet. I saute the veggies in coconut oil, omitted the tofu, added mushrooms and cilantro to the mix of veggies. I also used homemade chicken bone broth instead of water. Also instead of 2 tsp sesame oil I used 1 tso of sesame seed oil for a stronger sesame taste. Very good!!
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I was looking for a good Chinese soup recipe I could use for cabbage soup diet. I saute the veggies in coconut oil, omitted the tofu, added mushrooms and cilantro to the mix of veggies. I also used homemade chicken bone broth instead of water. Also instead of 2 tsp sesame oil I used 1 tso of sesame seed oil for a stronger sesame taste. Very good!!
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The ingredients sounded fabulous and seem to make so much sense. But it was very bland and just not doing anything for me. I don't even want to eat it. I almost feel like i wasted my tofu and bok choy. Sigh. Very disappointed.
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