#ewew cooks Radish Soup 2.0

White radish, when cooked till super soft, is one of my favourite root vegetables.  And who can forget how delicious it is in a dish of braised beef.  Or even better, fragrant pan-fried radish cake.

But since I don't know how (+ won't bother) to make those at home, it'll have to be the easy peasy Radish Soup for me then.  I've made this soup before, with pork ribs and carrots (you can check it out here), but I recently tried a new version, with chicken and peppercorn instead, and found that I liked it even more.  So, this is my Radish Soup 2.0.....with just 3 ingredients and I hope you'll like it as much as I do! ^_*

Ingredients:

1/2 a "choi yin kai" (village or kampung chicken)

1 Chinese white radish

1 Chinese tbsp of white peppercorns

Preparation:

I always steep pork ribs in hot water to get rid of impurities and I like to do the same with chicken though you can probably skip this if it's chicken but I still do it anyway.  Unlike pork ribs that need to be steeped for a longer time, the chicken just needs to be blanched for a short while.

Roughly cut the Chinese radish into chunks.

Lightly crush half of the white peppercorns (portion shown here is half) as this will help release more peppery flavour into the soup than whole peppercorns.

Method:

Throw everything into a slow cooker (I use a 1.5L cooker) and pour in hot water until it's an inch from the top. Don't be afraid to use all the off cuts as well like the leg and neck...these give it extra flavour.  Leave it to simmer for a good 4 hours or until radish is soft.

Half way through, I usually check on the soup, give it a good stir and season with salt.  Taste the soup to ensure the seasoning is right.

Four hours later....voila...the chicken and radish pieces should be well soften....and that's it...my Radish Soup 2.0 is ready! ;)

Don't be alarmed by the yellow-coloured look of the soup.....it's not because it's oily as I always ask the chicken seller to remove the skin when it comes to my homemade soups.  Well, there's some oil, of course (from the chicken meat and any remnants of skin that weren't removed), and you do need some in the soup to make it tasty.

But the soup is certainly not overly oily.....see, it's quite clear :)

The yellow hue of the soup is the result of using village chicken which, though more expensive than a "yuk kai" (broiler chicken), is definitely worth the extra we pay (this one cost me RM30) as it results in a much tastier soup than the usual broiler chickens.

The radish chunks are super soft and the chicken pieces will be falling off the bone tender.  Chuck in some chicken liver and heart for good measure! ;)

Look at those crushed peppercorns!  The peppery flavour of the soup is just right (for me)....peppery enough but not as hot as say pig stomach soup.  If you like it hotter, just crush more of the peppercorns.

Heck, I need my carbs.....so, I'd usually have this soup with plain rice ("lou thong sik fan") and make it a main meal.

If you don't intend to finish the soup in one sitting, be advised that the peppery flavour gets more intense as the soup is left to steep with the peppercorns for a longer period.  So, I would suggest that you transfer the soup out of the pot to another pot so that you can discard the peppercorns at the bottom of the pot.

Since making this version of radish soup with peppercorns, I prefer the taste of this one a lot more.  For those of you who enjoy drinking this soup but dislike the aroma of the radish permeating your house when it's cooking, the addition of peppercorns somehow lessen that "smell" and it also helps to make the radish taste a little less pungent.

I like my Radish Soup 2.0 better because the addition of peppercorns make it taste so much better....well, some like it hot! ^o^  Enjoy......

Serves 4 (as a soup) or 2 (as rice with soup)