Salted Mustard Greens with Tofu in Fish Soup
Soup Name:
Salted Mustard Greens with Tofu in Fish Soup
Traditional Chinese Name:
酸菜豆腐魚湯 (suan cai dòu fu yú tāng)
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This quick boil soup is an excellent pre-dinner appetizer. With its slight sour tang and refreshing clarity, it is relatively easy to make and very healthy for the whole family. Depending on the type, brand and preservation process of the mustard greens, your soup color can range from pale yellow to a bright yellow (as picture above). With a variety of textures in the soup, it serves as a great supplement to dinner and is an excellent source of protein. This is considered a great summer soup.
What’s involved?
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 45 mins
Serves: 4 bowls
Ingredients
5-6 large slices of grass carp fish, preferably from the tail or backside
3 fresh slices of ginger
1/2 package of preserved/salted mustard greens, largely sliced
1 pack of fresh stiff tofu, cubed
2 L of water
Cooking Instructions
- Soak the preserved mustard greens in warm water for 10 minutes
- Wash and rinse your fish in running water, slice into large pieces (so that they don’t disintegrate as easily in the soup)
- Pat dry with a paper towel and salt lightly
- In a frying pan, heat oil until hot and fry ginger and fish slices until golden brown
- Set aside the fish when finished (it doesn’t have to be completed cooked, but at least with lightly golden surfaces)
- Boil your soup water
- Rinse preserved mustard greens in running water and slice into edible pieces
- Rinse tofu and cut into large pieces
- Slice the century eggs in half
- When the soup water boils, add ginger, fish, preserved mustard greens, and tofu together
- Boil on high for 30 minutes
Any benefits?
- Naturally salted because of the mustard greens, so no salt needed!
- High source of protein and low in fat
- Excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, B6, C, and E, folic acid, calcium, carotenes, manganese, copper, potassium, iron and fiber
- Great for your bones and plenty of anti-oxidant
Any precautions?
- If you’re concerned about the level of saltiness of the preserved mustard greens, you can soak them longer (for at least an hour)
- Be sure to buy preserved mustard greens from a reputable source and be sure to check the expiry date
- Be sure to use stiff tofu as this is the only type that will sustain its shape and form when put in boiling water. Soft tofu will break apart, while still tastes OK, the soup doesn’t look as clean
- Remove all the bones of the fish as I am not boiling with a fish bag (or take caution when serving children)
any alternative instead of using grass cary fish?
TIA!
Dear Fiona, actually, any type of medium sized fish will do (not too expensive). As you are frying it with oil and ginger, that tends to make the fish taste all the same. Marinate with a bit of salt, heat a pan and fry until both sides are nice and crispy. I’d use a less expensive fish like “big fish” or “snake head fish” because you aren’t necessarily making the soup to eat the fish. As well, you can always use frozen cod or catfish as well and fry without using a soup bag and then eat it. Hope this helps! Lisa