#ewew cooks Salted Vegetables Soup

You know how much I love to drink soups....but I happen to come from a family who doesn't like to drink soup all that much.  So, this is one soup I cook very often at home coz it's the one soup that has the unanimous vote of the entire family!

 

It's also one of those soups that I consider to be a meal in itself coz you have meat, tofu and vegetables all in one.  If I'm eating on my own, I like to make this Salted Vegetables Soup and have it with rice...and that is a complete meal already for me.

Ingredients:

10 pcs pork ribs (about 250g)
4 - 5 leaves of salted vegetables
1 medium carrot
1 pc soft tofu
1 small tomato
5 pcs dried cuttlefish heads
Salt & white pepper to taste

Preparation:

Cut your salted vegetables into smaller pieces and soak them in water (for about half an hour) to reduce the saltiness.  How long you soak your salted vegetables will depend on how salty yours are (in the first place) but it's probably better to soak them longer than necessary coz once you find your pot of soup too salty, there's no turning back (yes, you can add water but that would dilute your soup and make it less tasty) but if it's not salty enough (you can just add a pinch of salt).

 

Cut your carrot, soft tofu (into 9 pcs) and tomato (into quarters).

As you can see, I did not use my "Holy Trinity" of dried cuttlefish, red dates and dried scallops which is a must in all my soups.  I've omitted the red dates and dried scallops as you don't need them to lend sweetness to this soup as it is, after all, a salted vegetable soup and the predominant flavour should still remain as 'salty'.

 

Method:

As usual, do not omit this important step - pour hot boiling water over your pork ribs and let it steep for about 3 - 5 mins.  Drain away the impurities that have risen to the surface.

 

After that, put all the ingredients (except the tofu and tomato) into a slow cooker.

 

Let it simmer away for 3 hours...and that's the beauty of my trusted National 1.5L Slow Cooker...you don't have to watch over it!

 

After your soup has been simmering for 2 hours, add in your tofu and tomatoes (in the last hr or so) coz putting them in too early (with the other ingredients) might break up your soft tofu and the soup tends to taste sourish if the tomatoes are boiled for too long.  At this point, taste to see if the soup has the right amount of saltiness and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

 

And there you have it...my easy-peasy Salted Vegetables Soup that my whole family enjoys....there aren't many but this is one of them ;) 

I can have just this with some rice ("lou tong sik farn") and I'd be a happy gal :)  It's got meat, vegetables and soup....all in one pot of convenience!

Serves 4 - 5 (soup sized bowls)