Sunday 10 March 2013

Chinese Vegetable Soup

My first recipe! It's a soup, which I thought would be fitting. One thing that I want to mention about my recipes: I make these up as I go along, so feel free to make substitutions where you see fit. Also, I never measure anything, some add things to taste as the measurements might not be completely accurate. Anyway, onto the recipe! I made it with pork stock, since I had half a frozen pig's skull (from a previously roasted pig's head) and some frozen pork feet, and there's not much else to do with those things other than make a delicious, extremely gelatinous stock! But you can use whichever kind of stock you want.

Look at all that wonderful, healthy gelatin!
  
The Ingredients

Chinese Pork and Vegetable Soup

  -a few tablespoons of sesame oil, or other fat (I used a combination of sesame oil and self-rendered lard)
  -2 large onions, chopped
  -5 cloves of garlic, minced
  -2-inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced
  -3 stalks celery, thinly sliced on a bias
  -4 carrots, chopped (you can also slice these on a   bias, if you prefer)
  -1 head of bok choy, thinly sliced
                 
 
Celery sliced on a bias
  -1 bell pepper, chopped
  -1 large box of mushrooms, any kind (I used    about twice as much as are pictured)
-stock, as much as required to achieve desired liquidy-ness
-1 cooked spaghetti squash, separated into strands
-a large pinch of red pepper flakes
-salt and pepper, to taste
-organic tamari, to taste (I didn't use any because soy isn't allowed on the whole30, but obviously it would make this soup taste much more Chinese) all soy that isn't organic is genetically modified!

 

Directions
 1. Heat the sesame oil/fat in a large soup pot (make sure it's REALLY large, or do what I had to do, and use 2 pots. This recipe makes a lot of soup). When the sesame oil is hot, add the onions and saute on medium heat until lightly browned.
2. Add garlic and ginger, and cook for a few minutes.
3. Add the celery, carrots, and bok choy stalks (reserve the leaves for later use). Cook for a few minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a separate pot/pan, heat some more sesame oil/fat and saute the mushrooms on high heat until browned. (You could skip this step, and just add the mushrooms in with the peppers, but I think sauteing them separately gives them a nicer taste and texture.) When the mushroom are done, add them to the pot with the other vegetables.
5. Add the bell pepper. 
6. Pour in enough stock to cover the vegetables, or more if you want your soup more soupy. 
7. Add the bok choy leaves and the spaghetti squash. Cook until all the vegetables are tender.
8. Season to taste with red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and tamari. Add some powdered ginger if the soup if you want the soup to taste more gingery. A splash of rice wine vinegar might be nice too, but I didn't try it.

Makes about 12 servings.
Enjoy!

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