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.
What ingredients are required?
1 one-foot long lotus root, cut into bite size
1 whole dried octopus, sliced
100 g of mung beans
3 large fresh carrots, sliced
3 large fresh corn, quartered
2 L of water
How do I prepare it?
- Soak dried octopus in cold water for about 30 minutes
- Boil your soup water
- Slice octopus in slices or quartered
- Wash and cut lotus root, carrots and corn
- 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!
Any benefits?
- Excellent Chinese soup for Spring in absorbing wetness from the body
- This soup is an excellent source of protein and low in fat
- No salt required as the octopus already provides enough sodium
- Octopus is rich in calcium, phosphorous, and iron
- Dried Octopus aids in the prevention of anemia, relieves fatigue and restores eyesight and improves liver functions
Any precautions?
- Be sure to purchase dried Chinese products from a reputable source
- Sometimes the octopus is really salty, so if you want to reduce the saltiness, soak in warm water for a few hours
- Dried octopus is high in cholesterol
- People who are allergic to shellfish may be allergic to octopus
Is there a good replacement for dried octopus?
Dear Nicole,
You can use dried mussels, dried scallops (or conpoys) or dried shrimp as a suitable substitute. They will produce the similar flavors (because of how they are cured), but are not as heaty as the dried octopus. Hope this helps!
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Your ingredient list has mung bean. However, you didn’t mention how to prepare it. Do we need to soak the mung bean? When do we put the mung bean in the pot?
thanks
Dear Hue, thank you for pointing that out! For the mung bean, you can pre-soak in warm water for 10-20 minutes if needed, although to be honest, if you’re dropping it in soup for a long boil, it’s not necessary. I’ll throw the beans in directly once the water is boiling along with all the other ingredients. Hope this helps and will update this recipe. Thank you, Lisa.
If i don’t have corn this season… what can i use? Thanks
Lady Tong will frozen squid rings work instead of dried octopus in a wet cold Spring Soup with corn and carrot? For flu. Will the squid rings help with Anemia also? I can’t take anything with ephedra and sudo-epherdra type herbs.Allergic! I Lived in Singapore as a pre-teen for several years I had alot of respect for Chinese Herbalists and Chinese Medicine.Still do Thank you, So much,for the soups you post.
In great appreciation.
Hello Leslie, for the squid rings, are they dried or just frozen? For this type of soup, it’s traditionally more used with dried seafood, rather than frozen. The flavours are slightly different between frozen and dried. I’m unsure whether the squid rings will help with anemia, I apologize, you’d best check with a dietician. However, when in doubt, you can eliminate the octopus altogether and go with a vegetarian based soup. Add more mung beans and consider using roots, such as lotus roots or arrow roots, these are great combos with the mung beans. Hope this helps! Lisa