Soup Name: Vegetables and Dried Octopus with Mung Beans Soup
Traditional Chinese Name: 雜菜綠豆章魚湯 (Zá cài lǜ dòu zhāng yú tāng)
Introduction:
When it rains, the Chinese like using beans to absorb moisture from the body. Mung beans, dried beans, red beans, green beans, yellow beans, big beans and little beans – any type of beans will do really! The octopus is known to be a heaty ingredient and therefore is balanced with the cooler mung beans. This combination with lotus root is a delicious Spring Chinese soup ideal for the whole family. I’ve also added a variety of vegetables to sweeten it and dilute the unique taste of the octopus that my children pick up on. On top of this, it gives you a hearty soup that you can eat as a meal or additional dishes to your meal – like the corn.
This is a simple, easy-to-make soup that doesn’t require many ingredients. It’s a heavy sweet (not a light sweet) and appropriate for spring weather. This soup is quite neutral and ideal for children and adults. The dried octopus & dried mussels do give the soup a little bit of a “fishy” taste if you put too much, but use less if you’re concerned. It’s a similar taste to dried scallops almost. A naturally delicious soup for the whole family.
This combination of octopus and chicken works amazing with many types of roots, such as arrowroot, lotus root, or fresh Chinese yam. It goes nicely with earthy tastes as it really brings out the flavours of the roots. And the amazing thing is that it eats like a meal! I will serve the roots and the chicken meat, with a small plate of soy sauce, and it’s delicious!
Prepare chicken (see chicken post) and blanch in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and set aside
Soak dried octopus and baby mussels in water for about 30 minutes
Boil your soup water
Slice octopus in slices or quartered
Peel and cut arrowroot into large cubes
Add all the ingredients into your boiling soup water
Boil on high for thirty minutes and reduce to medium boil for another hour
Serve and enjoy!
An alternative which is often used with lotus roots is to stuff the lotus root with green or yellow (mung) beans. The beans are slightly cooling, but you can drop in a slice of ginger to balance it out. This is a very popular way of making lotus roots in southern China, particularly Guangzhou and is often served in large portions for large families.
Lotus roots can also be stuffed with sticky rice (yum!), pan fried, sliced, marinated raw in a beautiful vinaigrette, and a host of other preparation method! It’s definitely one of my favourite and most diverse roots in the Chinese menu!
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