Tofu and Mushrooms Miso Soup

Tofu and Mushrooms Miso Soup

Tofu and Mushrooms Miso Soup

Soup Name:

Tofu and Mushrooms Miso Soup

Traditional Chinese Name:

豆腐蘑菇味噌湯 (dòu fu mó gu wèi zēng tāng)

This tea is slightly cooling in nature and sweet to taste.  The tofu and kale are both cooling ingredients.

 

For videos, visit us on YouTube.

A variation on the original miso soup (which, by the way is a great soup base in itself), this hearty vegetarian soup is really easy to make with readily available ingredients. I like to keep kale or some seaweed in my pantry, as the kids love it. You need to use relatively firm tofu and depending on how much “stuff” you want in your soup, you can add more or less. Here’s my take on this soup – hearty. I love to eat seaweed and I love tofu, so I really made this soup rich, thick and packed with protein. Optional additions include fresh scallions, scallops or shrimps.

What’s involved?

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 6 bowls

What’s involved?
Any benefits?
  • This is a great soup base for other additional ingredients.
  • Excellent for children and great source of protein
  • It’s a super easy soup to make with a good balance of amino acids, and B Vitamins
  • It is a naturally salty addition (so no salt needed), but do use the miso paste in moderation

For videos, visit us on YouTube.

Cooking Instructions
  1. Boil your soup water, add in the diced garlic, scallions and kale and boil on medium heat for 5 minutes
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients (tofu, mushroom and miso paste) and boil on medium for 5 minutes while stirring or whisking (to melt/mix the miso paste)
  3. Boil on medium heat for another 10 minutes
  4. Serve and enjoy!

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Salted Mustard Greens with Tofu in Fish Soup

Salted Mustard Greens with Tofu in Fish Soup

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)

 

For videos, visit us on YouTube. 

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

Cooking Instructions

  1. Soak the preserved mustard greens in warm water for 10 minutes
  2. Wash and rinse your fish in running water, slice into large pieces (so that they don’t disintegrate as easily in the soup)
  3. Pat dry with a paper towel and salt lightly
  4. In a frying pan, heat oil until hot and fry ginger and fish slices until golden brown
  5. Set aside the fish when finished (it doesn’t have to be completed cooked, but at least with lightly golden surfaces)
  6. Boil your soup water
  7. Rinse preserved mustard greens in running water and slice into edible pieces
  8. Rinse tofu and cut into large pieces
  9. Slice the century eggs in half
  10. When the soup water boils, add ginger, fish, preserved mustard greens, and tofu together
  11. 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)

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Kimchi, Tofu and Beef Soup

Kimchi, Tofu and Beef Soup

Soup Name: Kimchi, Tofu and Beef Soup

Traditional Chinese Name: 泡菜豆腐牛肉湯 (pàocài dòu fu niú ròu tāng)

Introduction:

This is a Korean dish that I love eating.  I say eat because of the volume of ingredients, it turns into a stew that packs a bunch (in terms of spiciness) and nutrients.  The ingredients are readily available and it’s not your traditional old fire soups because you can make this in about half an hour.  And of course, it’s flexible in that you can add your favorite ingredients to make it more wholesome.  My husband and I literally had this for dinner (only), the kids of course, couldn’t take the spiciness, so they didn’t have any.  You can serve this with rice, rice noodles, noodles or add any other starches to really make it filling.

What Ingredients are required?

Soup Ingredients

20 fresh clams
1 whole fresh radish, cubed
1 tablespoon of hot chili oil
1 pound of fresh beef slices
3 cloves of fresh garlic, diced
1 fresh onion, sliced
380g of kimchi
1/2 head of fresh cabbage, sliced
1 L of chicken broth
2-3 L of water
1 pack of fresh tofu, chunked
1 cup of fresh green onions, diced
1 fresh egg, per serving (optional)

Beef Marinade

1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 tablespoon of hot chili oil
1 teaspoon of chili powder (optional)

How do I prepare it?

  1. Pre-marinade the beef with the soy sauce, cornstarch, chili oil and chili powder at least 1 hour before cooking.  Cover and set aside in the fridge.
  2. In a pot of boiling water, add the fresh clams (already soaking in fresh water).  Once the clams open, remove immediately from the water and set aside.
  3. Wash, peel and cube the radish.  You can re-use the clam water to boil the radish until they are soft (use a chopstick to see if you can smoothly poke through a radish, if so, it’s sufficiently soft).
  4. In a large pot on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of hot chili oil, garlic and fry beef until half-cooked.  Remove from pot.
  5. In the same large pot, fry onions until cooked.  Add half-cooked beef  and kimchi.  Continue to cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
  6. Add cabbage to the beef and cook for another 5 minutes on medium heat, while continuously stirring.
  7. Pour in chicken broth and water to the mixture and turn on high heat.  Boil on high for 10 minutes.
  8. When ready to serve, add in tofu, cooked clams and green onions.  Boil together for another 2-3 minutes.
  9. As optional, you can add 1 fresh egg (whole) into the soup and scoop out along with soup per serving.  Be careful not to pop the egg and for plating, place on top, in the middle of the soup.
  10. Enjoy!

Any benefits?

  • Soup is versatile in that you can add other ingredients such as chicken, pork, dumplings, rice noodles, and other leafy greens
  • A quick boil soup that is easy to make
  • Serves as a meal
  • Helps keep the body warm and promote blood circulation
  • Soup is low in fat and high in proteins
  • Excellent source of dietary fibers

Any precautions?

  • The soup spiciness may be harm or upset sensitive stomachs (you can vary the kimchi, hot chili oil or chili powder amounts as desired)
  • If spiciness is a concern, you can also rinse the kimchi in cold water before using in soups

Step 4: Fresh beef slices fried with garlic

Step 5:  Fried onions with kimchi

Step 8:  Add tofu to soup (with cooked clams) before serving

Dried Bean Curd

 

Ingredient Name:  Dried bean curd, tofu skin, fu jook, yuba

Traditional Chinese Name: 腐竹 (fǔ zhú)

What is this?

  • A Chinese or Japanese product made from soy beans
  • When boiling soy milk, the thick filmy layer is extracted and dried as dried bean curd
  • It is used in dim sums, desserts, and in meat substitutes (as vegetarian dishes)
  • You can purchase it fresh or dried

How do I prepare it?

  • Rinse in warm water first
  • For dried bean curd, soak in water for a few hours if planning to use skin in whole pieces
  • For desserts, dried bean curd should be added to cold water if you wish to shred it completed

Where can I buy this?

  • This is available in most Asian supermarkets
  • Can be purchased both fresh and dried
  • Is also available in single sheets or as a bulk of many wrapped layers (depending on how you wish to use it)

What is the cost

  • Dried bean curd is very affordable
  • 3 sheets as pictured above cost $6 HKD

Any benefits?

  • Good source of protein
  • Has very little saturated fat and no cholesterol
  • Excellent source of Vitamin E
  • Ideal for vegetarian consumption

Any precautions?

  • People with the condition of gout should consume with caution as it is high in protein

Resources

Tomato Fish Soup with Tofu

Soup Name: Tomato Fish Soup with Tofu
 
Traditional Chinese Name: 番茄魚湯 (fān qié yú tāng)

Introduction:

Tomatoes are the ideal partner in fish soups.  It helps alleviatesome of the fishy scent as well as bring a sweet and slightly sour taste to the soup.  This soup is ideal for confinements and children (at least one year in age as tomatos are an ingredient that is on the acidic side) and is very neutral and healthy.  There is virtually no fat in the soup and the broth is rich in flavour and nutrients. 

 
What Ingredients are required?

4 medium-sized golden threadfin bream (or any other appropriate substitute)
3 tomatoes
2 large white onions
4 large cubes of soup tofu
2 L of water

1 teaspoon of salt (to marinate the fish)
3-4 thin slices of ginger
1 teaspoon of oil (to fry the fish)

How do I prepare it?

  1. After the fish is cleaned, wipe the fish with paper towels or a cloth to remove excess water
  2. Cover the fish with a small amount of salt (inside and out)
  3. Let it sit for an hour and then drain any water
  4. Peel and cut the tomatoes and onions
  5. Start boiling your soup water
  6. In a pan, add oil and fry the ginger with the fish on low-medium heat (until the fish is completely cooked and the skin is a slightly browned)
  7. Put the fish into a soup bag and add to water
  8. Add tomatoes and onions
  9. Boil on high for at least thirty minutes
  10. Add tofu cubes into soup ten minutes before consumption
  11. Serve and enjoy!

 Any benefits?

  • This neutral soup is ideal for confinements
  • It is also ideal for children (who are able to eat tomatoes)
  • It is highly nutritious, contains no fats and can be used as a soup base for noodles, macaroni and other dishes

Any precautions?

  • Be careful of disintegrated fish bones in the soup – although a filter or fish bag will help