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)
I used to make soups like this one for my dinner. I also come from a family that is not really into soups and I have only appreciated soups much later in life. And I have got to go and buy the dried cuttlefish and try that in my soup. I am sure it gives lots of flavor!
ReplyDeleteI didn't use to put dry cuttlefish into my soups until I fished them out from soups I had in restaurants and realised this must be a secret ingredient that made soups tasty...and I've not stopped using them since :)
DeleteMe... I soak those salted veggie in water, then if my soup turned out less flavor, I would add some of those water into the soup at the last 30 minutes hahaha...
ReplyDeleteHmmm, it never crossed my mind to reserve the water that the salted veggies were soaked in....much like how people would reserve the water for boiling pasta and add a bit of that into their cooked pasta.
DeleteOK i want to make this soon, and pray hope I don't accidentally make it too salty
ReplyDeleteWell, you can take a bite of the salted veggie after soaking to see if it's of the right saltiness.....hehe! ;D
DeleteWith dried cuttlefish heads and salted vegetables, your soup must be very, very flavourful. No surprise that your family love this soup, many would.
ReplyDeleteMy family likes stuff that are salty, that's why this soup is a favourite.
DeleteI really enjoy soup. When I have the time I like to make up big batches and freeze them in single portions. My favourite is pumpkin. They make quick and easy lunches. Thanks for your recipe. Hubby will definitely like this one with big hearty chunks of meat and veg.
ReplyDeleteYa, I've seen people freezing western-style soups just like they like to freeze stock but those are strained and only contain liquid, so it freezes well. Unfortunately, Chinese soups have chunks of meat and veg, so we don't usually freeze them but you can keep it in the fridge and drink it over a few days.
Deletesoup is the staple of nearly all chinese households, ya ... i remember lots of soups with chicken and lotus roots from my childhood. i think my family would love your recipe ... though this got me thinking, gosh, it must have been really laborious for our grandmothers back in the decades before slow-cooking equipment was invented! :)
ReplyDeleteYa, those days they had to simmer the soup over an open fire and watch over it closely so that it doesn't boil over or dries up....it's certainly a lot more work. In fact, some still like to do it the traditional way until today! ;)
DeleteHubby not a fan of salted veggie, so I will just cook the normal ABC soup which has similar ingredients :P
ReplyDeleteOh, ABC soup is nice too....but I only like the onions :p
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