Soups, Stocks + Sauces – Page 10 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Vermicelli Vegetable Soup

I adjusted this from a vegetable ramen recipe using rice and potato vermicelli. This may seem to require a lot of ingredients but it’s easier than you think–just put all the vegetables in the pot and boil. Any vegetables will do, really, and I’ve tried this with baby bok choy, Napa cabbage and carrots.

Ingredients:
1 pack each of rice and potato vermicelli
a quart of vegetable stock
1 packaged firm tofu, sliced in small squares
zucchini, chopped in half moons
snow peas, destringed and sliced in half
leeks, white parts only, chopped
shiitake mushrooms, dusted off dirt, halved
a small knob of ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
garlic, crushed
1 packet of white miso powder
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsps soy sauce
sesame oil

1. SautÃ© ginger and the garlic in a stock pot first then add the vegetables, stirring for 5 minutes. Add stock and let boil. Turn down the heat and simmer. Stir in miso powder, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce. Adjust to taste.
2. In a separate pot, cook noodles in boiling water for 4 minutes. Stir with a fork to avoid sticking. Drain with cold running water. When cool enough to handle, use your hands to separate noodles and drain some more.
3. Put a handful of noodles in a bowl and ladle in soup. Add a drop or two of sesame oil.

Related post/s:
Where to get white miso powder

Butternut Squash Soup with Pomegranate Topping

The temperature outside finally went down. Now, it really feels like almost-Christmas. Before the squash and the pomegranate completely disappear from the markets, I made a very hearty soup perfect for a Netflix night. I still had leftover molasses from the last pomegranate recipe and that made this soup a little tart and gave it a nice spunk.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise
1 quart chicken stock
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 pomegranate (optional)
1 cup heavy cream
a handful of pine nuts, toasted then some of it grounded
1 tbsp honey
a pinch of nutmeg powder
half a cinnamon stick, grounded
a pinch of whole cloves, grounded
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400Âº. Drizzle the inside of the squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. On a baking sheet, bake cut side down for up to 2 hours. When done, let cool and then scoop out all the squash meat in a bowl.
2. In a pot, simmer the chicken stock with the squash, grounded pine nuts, honey, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves for about 40 minutes. Using a blender, purÃ© in batches and transfer back to another pot with a strainer. Simmer and keep adding chicken stock while stirring ocassionally to thin the soup.
3. In the meantime, make the topping. In a small glass bowl, whisk heavy cream and molasses until fluffy. Ladle the soup in serving bowls and top with a dollop of this cream. Top with remaining pine nuts and some pomegranate seeds.

Corn Bok Choy Soup

When corns are in season in the summer, people immediately grill or steam them. I usually make this corn soup, a staple when I was growing up in Manila. To me, slurping soup is one of the most comforting things you can do for yourself even if it’s 90 degrees outside. Even if you don’t have all the vegetables to make a nice stock, the natural sweetness of the corn is enough to make the broth tasty. Kale or even broccoli is a good substitute for the bok choy.

Ingredients:
5 ears of fresh corn, kernels sliced off using a serrated knife
2 bunches of baby bok choy
1 medium red onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 pound of ground pork
red pepper flakes
salt, pepper, oil

1. In a stock pot, heat some oil and sautÃ© garlic until brown and onions until transparent. Add the ground pork and brown until cooked.
2. Add the greens and cook until slightly wilted. Add 8 cups of water and the corn and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Ladle in soup bowls and sprinkle with red pepper flakes before serving.

Fish Fumet, Concentrated Fish Stock

Whenever I buy a whole fish, I ask the fish monger to have it cleaned but I also ask to keep the fish head and the bones. If I’m lucky, Blue Moon Fish from Mattituck, Long Island at the Union Square farmers’ market gives them away for free. My dad especially likes using them for Filipino paksiw, which is a fish soup made less fishy by adding a lot of ginger. For a non-Filipino recipe, I use my own fish stock to make an accompanying sauce for the fish itself.

Fish fumet is the French version of a concentrated fish stock. Because it’s such a classic, I turned to my Larousse Gastronomique to find a solid recipe.

fish heads and bones, rinsed well
4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 leek, thoroughly washed, chopped
1 large red onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
salt, pepper

1. Put all the ingredients in a pot with enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, then immediately lower the fire. Skim impurities carefully and let the stock simmer, without boiling, for about two hours.
2. When the stock has reduced to about 75%, strain to a container. Let cool before storing in the fridge.

Garam Masala

Adapted from asiarecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 cinnamon stick
2 tbsps cumin seeds
2 tbsps ground coriander
1 tbsp cardamom pods, shelled
1 tbsp whole clove
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp turmeric

1. Toast all of the spices in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. The whole process should take about 10 minutes. Let cool. Transfer spices to a grinder and blend until smooth. Store in an airtight jar.