Traditional Chinese Name: 三色椒素湯 (sān sè jiāo sù tāng)
Introduction:
I was inspired to make this soup from my mother-in-law, who used the tri-coloured peppers with pork in one of her soups. You don’t immediately associate these peppers to taste good in soups, but with the right combination of ingredients, it’s actually pretty tasty and extremely healthy! I went for a vegetarian soup to keep it clean and simple and used chestnuts to enhance the soup flavour (instead of meat). My husband is normally not a fan of my “natural & bland” soups, but he thought this was a hit and went back for thirds. To have the kids drink more, I made Japanese noodles and used the soup as the soup base and they drank/ate it all – fabulous!
Amount serves: 8 large bowls
What Ingredients are required?
10 fresh chestnuts, peeled
1 red bell pepper, halved
1 large white onion, halved
1 yellow bell pepper, halved
1 green bell pepper, halved
3 large fresh corn, quartered
3 fresh tomatoes, halved
3 L of water
How do I prepare it?
- In a separate pot (not your soup pot), boil the chestnuts for 5 minutes
- Remove from heat and immediately peel the chestnuts (both the outer skin and the inner skin)
- Boil your soup water
- Prepare your vegetables
- When the water boils, add all the ingredients together
- Boil on medium for 1.5 hours (or use a thermal pot for at least 1.5 hours)
Any benefits?
- This soup contains no fat
- All natural ingredients serves as a hearty meal
- Bell peppers are an excellent source of carotenoids, Vitamin C, A, B6 and E
- This soup is packed with antioxidants, which help in staying youthful!
- All the ingredients of this soup are readily available and easy to find
Any precautions?
- Bell peppers’ benefits can be reduced when it’s been exposed to high heat (and breaks down)
This soup looks deliciously healthy. I would love to try it but I’m confused about the onion in the photo, when there is no mention of onion in the ingredients. Thanks for sharing.
Dear Siobhan, I’m sorry – I don’t see the onion? I don’t think I added onion to this version. Could you pinpoint where the onion is? Thanks! Lisa
Dear Siobhan, ah – I see it now! Thanks for the reminder. I’ve added this back into the ingredient list. Appreciate the call out! Lisa
If I double this recipe, do I double the ingredients? What should I double and what should I not?
Dear Cara, did you want to double the volume of soup (ie: to serve more people) or double just the ingredients for increased density? The proportions of this I found were good, so if you do double, double it all. Hope this helps! Lisa