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Chinese Vegetarian Soup
Served with Vinegared Cucumber
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Serves 4
Prep time: 20 minutes Total time: 50 minutes |
- 1 serrano chili if you’d like the soup spicy
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 lime
- 1 medium onion
- 1 long English cucumber
- 2 stalks fresh lemon grass (or 1/4 cup dried)
- 1-1/2 lbs. Chinese broccoli, kale, mustard cabbage, or plain turnip and mustard greens
- 1-1/2 pounds firm tofu
Shopping List
- Black pepper
- Rice vinegar
- Sea salt
Pantry Items
- 9X13 baking dish
- Chef’s knife
- Large saucepan
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Paring knife
- Salad spinner
- Strainer
- Tongs
- Wooden spoons
Tools
- Wine: Try a Riesling with this
- Dessert: Fruit sorbet
Suggestions
- When you walk in the door
- Get out Pantry Items
- Get out Tools
- Assemble the ingredients
- Put the tofu in a pan or dish, cover it with plastic wrap and put a heavy weight on it
- Open the wine and refrigerate it
- Prep
- Trim and mince the chiles.
- Rinse and pat dry the cilantro. Pluck 1-1/2 leaves.
- Squeeze 1 tbsp. juice from the lime.
- Peel and coarsely chop the onion.
- Peel the cucumber and cut it into 1/4-inch thick slices. Put the slices in a shallow dish and sprinkle them with 1 tbsp. vinegar.
- If you are using fresh lemon grass, cut the stalks into 2-inch lengths. If using dried, tie it in a piece of cheesecloth.
- Rinse the greens and spin them dry.
- Start Cooking
- Mince the chiles and the cilantro leaves together until they are almost a purée. Add the lime juice and stir. Transfer the mixture to a serving dish.
- Put 8 cups of water, the lemon grass and 1-1/2 tsps. salt in a large saucepan over high heat. When it boils, reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- While the broth is cooking, coarsely chop the greens.
- Remove the tofu from the dish and pat it dry. Cut it into 1/2 x 2-inch pieces.
- Add the tofu to the broth and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the greens and the onion to the broth, pushing the greens down into the liquid. Cook for about 8 minutes, pushing the greens down into the liquid from time to time so they cook evenly and turn a nice bright green.
- When the greens are cooked, remove the lemon grass. Adjust the seasoning of the broth and serve the soup.
- Sprinkle the cucumbers with salt and garnish with cilantro sprigs.
- Take the soup, the cilantro condiment and the cucumbers to the table. Dinner is served! Don’t forget the wine!
