One of my favourite soups is also the easiest and fastest to cook. It takes just one hour and 6 ingredients to make a large pot of delicious Salted Vegetable and Tofu Soup.
The only hazard in making this soup is, uh… To cut a long, sad story short, I do not recommend slicing slippery salted vegetables with a sharp Zwilling knife when you’re in a hurry. Not if you like all your fingernails intact 😛
… that’s it. There are no other stories related to this Chinese pot of deliciousness. It’s bursting with simmered bone broth goodness, marked with a satisfying saltiness that pairs great with soft tofu.
Also, the ability to whip up such simple home-cooking makes you look like a kitchen goddess because it reminds people of family. True story.
AND being thought of as a goddess of any kind is one of the most absurd, yet strangely appealing feelings ever. You should try it once in a while.
So make this soup already!
… Wait wait, a few more notes to share:
… On the bones, use chicken if you can’t or don’t like pork.
… On salted vegetables, it’s pickled/salted mustard greens that looks like this *click*. Wet markets will have them, some hypermarkets may not carry them. There are many kinds of salted vegetables, remember it’s the “wet” one.
… On tofu, use firm or pressed tofu. Eat tofu, it’s good for you!
… On ginger: I buy a big one, slice it up and freeze the rest. I don’t use ginger all the time, and it is wasteful to buy when you only need a little.
Frozen ginger slices at my convenience!
Okay, NOW let’s get to it:
1) Blanch 300g pork/chicken bones in a pot of boiling water. This removes the scum.
2) Remove and transfer to another pot of water with a couple ginger slices. Let it come to a boil, then simmer for 30 – 40 minutes.
3) Use this time to slice up a packet of salted vegetables (cut it however you like to eat it), 2 tomatoes and a box of tofu. Personally I like everything bite-size. Watch out for your fingernails.
4) Put in salted vege and tomatoes to cook for 10 mins. If you want a saltier taste, this is when you put in a pickled plum. I find it unnecessary.
5) In the last 5 mins, put in tofu and let it simmer before serving. If you’re using prawns and/or meat slices, this is the time to put it in.
Ta-dah, a nice bowl of Chinese soup ready to be consumed, nom nom nom nom… Go on, make soup and let your domestic goddess shineeeeeeee!
(Ingredients and method all above. I’ll update again with Printable Recipe when the plugin decides to work again)
