Quick & Easy Chinese (8 page)
Read Quick & Easy Chinese Online
Authors: Nancie McDermott
Chinese meals count on soup as a component, almost as a beverage or touchstone in a menu of varied flavors designed to go with an abundance of rice. Many soups are quite simple, consisting of chicken stock with small pieces of meat or seafood, some leafy greens or shreds of vegetable, and an accent of sesame oil, green onions, or cilantro to brighten the bowl.
Most are made well within an hour of serving time, unlike the Western tradition of simmering a soup on the back of the stove for hours, and making it thick with vegetables and meat. Chowders, minestrone, and vegetable-beef soup are examples of this soup-as the-star tradition, and while we love them, they tend to be major cooking projects. In contrast, these Chinese-style soups are ones to stir together while the rice steams or the pasta pot boils, and to enjoy along with a stir-fried dish, rotisserie chicken, an herb-laced omelet, or grilled fish.
Egg Flower Soup
(page 38) and
Meatball Soup with Spinach
(page 37) are excellent examples of this busy-day genre of soup.
Creamy Corn Soup with Ham
(page 43) and
Hot and Sour Soup
(page 44) are each a little more involved, but either could serve as the main course along with wonderful bread and butter and a big green salad or steamed broccoli.
Won Ton Soup
(page 40) is quick and easy once the won tons are shaped, but you will want to plan a won ton–making session on a Saturday morning or on a day when you’re making dinner without watching the clock. Extra hands make it fast and fun, and for a meal of won tons or a batch to take home, you will most likely find many potential helpers eager to sign up. It takes time to get won tons lined up on a tray, but once you’re done, it is a feast in a bowl, and keeping a batch in the freezer, uncooked, is insurance for the day when you long for a fabulous Chinese feast in a very short time.
We love this hearty soup with rice and a simple vegetable stir-fry like
Everyday Green Beans
(page 119) or
Broccoli with Garlic and Ginger
(page 127). You can roll the meat into little balls or just add it in free-form pinches to the boiling soup. Add carrot shreds, tofu chunks, or sliced mushrooms right after the meat if you want a more complex dish without much more effort.
1 small bundle bean thread noodles (about 2 ounces)
¼ pound ground pork
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
½ teaspooon salt
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, or large leaves torn into 2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
Asian sesame oil (optional)
SERVES
4
Soften the bean thread noodles by placing them in a medium bowl with warm water to cover for 15 minutes. When they are flexible and white, cut them into 3-inch lengths and set aside.
Combine the pork with the soy sauce, garlic, and salt and mix together to season the meat evenly. Roll the mixture into small meatballs, about 1 inch in diameter, or use a spoon to scoop it into small, free-form meatballs.
In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a rolling boil over high heat. Drop the meatballs into the boiling soup, a few at a time, and stir to keep them from sticking together. When all the meatballs are in the soup, adjust the heat to maintain a gentle boil and cook for 3 minutes. Skim off and discard any foam that forms on the soup, and stir now and then.
Add the noodles and stir well, cooking until they become clear and soft, about 1 minute more. Add the spinach and green onion and remove from the heat. Serve hot, adding a few drops of sesame oil, if using, to the soup just before serving.
Often listed as Egg Drop Soup in Chinese restaurants, this dish’s poetic name of Egg Flower Soup celebrates the way eggs “blossom” as they are stirred gently into simmering stock. If you use canned broth or frozen chicken stock, this soup makes a perfect busy-night dish. If you make chicken stock, this dish showcases its deep flavor with delicious simplicity. Either way, Egg Flower Soup rounds out any rice-centered meal, and it can be served in big bowls over rice as a one-dish dinner. Plan to stir in the eggs just before serving for the most wonderful texture and beauty.
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups baby spinach leaves (optional)
½ teaspoon Asian sesame oil
½ teaspoon salt
2 well-beaten eggs
3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
SERVES
4
In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the spinach leaves, if using, sesame oil, and salt, allowing the spinach to wilt into the soup.
Stir well until the chicken broth is swirling in circles. Carefully and slowly pour the beaten eggs onto the surface of the soup, continuing to stir gently and encouraging them to flow out into leafy petals and ribbons.
Sprinkle the green onion onto the soup and serve hot.
From my first tiny bowl of won ton soup at Wong’s Chinese Restaurant in my North Carolina hometown, I have loved this soup. I’ve since enjoyed it in New York City and San Francisco, as well as in Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Taipei. The fact that every little won ton needs filling, folding, and cooking means that this dish doesn’t belong in the busy-weeknight category. But made in advance with only a few ingredients and simple steps, these dumplings are ready to boil and enjoy in soup or with a simple sauce, right from the freezer or fridge. Helpers recruited from among friends and family make this task a pleasure, and the reward of won ton soup will make them eager to sign up for future sessions. I love sprinkling a spoonful of Asian sesame oil onto my soup along with the green onion and cilantro leaves.
FOR THE WON TONS
¾ pound ground pork
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
½ teaspoon salt
About 40 square won ton wrappers
12 cups water, plus 3 cups cold
FOR THE SOUP
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, or large spinach leaves torn into 2-inch pieces right before use
¼ cup chopped green onion
About
1
/
3
cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves