Chinese Winter Melon Soup

On a recent trip to the Asian grocery store, I picked up a slice of winter melon and dried wood ear mushrooms. A friend suggested that I make a soup out of it, so I adapted this recipe and found that I really liked this simple soup. The melon and wood ear mushrooms are both mild tasting, but lend so much flavor to the soup. A good quality stock really makes the soup shine. I used a store bought stock with good results. Dried shiitake mushrooms or any other dried mushrooms would work just as well in place of the wood ear mushrooms.

While writing up this post, I found out that winter melon is not uncommon in India (Hindi: petha, pethakaddu, Tamil: neer poosanikai, Bengali: Chal kumra, Malayalam: kumbalanga, Telugu: booDida Gummadikaaya, Kannada: boodagumbala). Now that I know it is used in Indian recipes, I have to give some of those a try sometime. This is my entry for Weekend herb blogging hosted this week by Anna from Morsels and Musings.


(This picture is reproduced with permission from Marc at Mental Masala)

Chinese Winter Melon Soup
2-3 cup winter melon (1/2 pound)
Water to boil winter melon
2-3 cups chicken broth
handful chinese dried black mushrooms
5-6 slices ginger
1/4 cup cooked ham, diced (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 green onion, green part only, washed and cut on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces
a handful of cilantro to garnish

Preparation:
1. Wash the winter melon, remove the green skin, seeds, and the pulp. Cut into 2-inch pieces. (Peel the skin thickly as the melon closer to the skin will be harder)
2. Reconstitute the Chinese dried mushrooms by soaking in hot water for 20 - 30 minutes until softened. Drain and rinse.
3. Place the winter melon in a pot of water, bring to a boil, and simmer for approximately 15 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms, ginger and cooked ham. Add seasonings as desired. Simmer for about 20 minutes more or until the winter melon is translucent and tender. Add green onion and cilantro for garnish. Serve hot.

Curried Carrot and Apple Soup

I was skeptical - how could a carrot and apple soup be fun? Wouldn't it be too sweet? A closer look at the recipe* revealed just one tart apple in the whole batch, and these apples aren't overly sweet. And korma curry powder seemed interesting. I knew I could make this curry powder at home from the ingredients in my pantry. Besides, I have been smitten with the flavor of cooked tart (Granny Smith) apples recently. Cooking these apples makes them mellow and so delicious that I was surprised, and disappointed I hadn't used them sooner!

This soup was fun. Only mildly sweet, and flavorful. The combination of the fennel seeds and spices from the kurma powder paired well with the carrots. Since the familiar orange carrot is the richest vegetable source of beta carotene, I try hard to find recipes with carrots that taste good. I believe that even the most boring vegetable can shine if treated right and paired with the right ingredients. This root vegetable has a distinct aroma. It is versatile enough to play either the starring role in the dish, or merely accent the other ingredients in the dish. It is used across the board from soups (as a base ingredient in stocks, stews and soups), vegetable sides, pickles, chutneys and relishes, to desserts like carrot cake and the fudge like Gajar ka halwa. This soup is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Vani from Batasari.


Curried Carrot and Apple Soup
2 teaspoons oil
4 large carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 Thai green chilies
1 tart baking apple, chopped
3-4 cups water or vegetable broth
salt and black pepper
plain yogurt and carrot curls, to garnish

Korma Curry powder:
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon dry coconut shreds (or use fresh coconut milk or fresh frozen coconut)
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
Dash of cinnamon, clove and cardamom powder
3 tablespoons cashew nuts or almonds


Lightly toast the ingredients for the curry powder and grind to a powder.

Heat the oil and add onions and saute until transparent. Add the curry powder and fry for 2-3 minutes. Next add the carrots and apple, stir well, then cover the pan.

Cook over very low heat for about 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally until softened. Spoon the vegetable mixture into a food processor or blender, then add half the broth and process until smooth.

Return to the pan and pour in the remaining broth. Bring the soup to a boil and adjust the seasoning before serving in bowls, garnish with a swirl of yogurt and a few curls of carrot.

References:
The recipe is adapted from a book called 'Soup: Superb ways with a classic dish'

Tom Yum Goong Soup

(Easily adaptable for Vegetarians*)

Tom Yum Soup, an aromatic, spicy, and sour Thai soup is one my comfort foods. This soup is sour and fragrant from the lemongrass and lime leaves, and soothing - try a homemade version once and you are likely to get hooked forever. Every so often, I crave these flavors; Or, when I'm down with a cold or flu, this soup warms me right up and comforts me so much so that for a brief while, it's almost fine to be sick. This is my contribution to Jugalbandi's Event CLICK: Liquid Comfort.

I stock up on the ingredients for this soup when I visit the local South East Asian store. Properly stored, lemongrass, lime leaves and galangal keep for a very long time in your freezer. (The lime leaves, galangal and lemongrass in the picture have been in my freezer for 5 months. As lemongrass ages, it may become just a touch less aromatic, so you may need to up the amount used in your recipe)

(Clockwise from top right: cilantro, green onions, button mushrooms, ginger, galangal, green chilies, lime leaves, lemongrass, lime)

Galangal tastes like an austere version of ginger, with overtones of camphor, pepper and pine. A taste of it reminded me of the smell of camphor burning in temples in India. It is used a lot in Thai cooking, and freezes beautifully. Certainly worth a try, just for the fun of it. Lime leaves and lemongrass have an aromatic sour fragrance - unlike limes which just taste sour in your food without adding much in the smell department.

Tom Yum Goong Soup
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
3-4 stalks fresh lemongrass, sliced on a bias in 2-inch pieces
10 kaffir lime leaves
1-inch piece fresh galangal or ginger or both, sliced
4-6 Thai red or green chilies, sliced
2 tablespoons fish sauce, such as nam pla
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar (optional)
1 (8-ounce) can straw mushrooms, rinsed or 5-6 Button mushrooms sliced
1 pound large shrimp, peeled with tails on
2 limes, juiced
2 green onions, sliced
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Bring the stock and water to the boil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and chiles. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes to let the spices infuse the broth. For convenience, I remove the lemongrass and lime leaves from the liquid before adding the shrimp. Authentic versions of the soup leave them in, you are expected to avoid eating them in your soup bowl.

Uncover and add the fish sauce and sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes. Toss in the shrimp and cook on very low heat (so the shrimp stay tender and juicy) for about 8 minutes until they turn pink. Remove from the heat and add the lime juice, green onions, mushrooms and cilantro. Taste for salt and spices; you should have an equal balance of spicy, salty, and sour. Keep tasting and adjusting with salt, fresh lime juice and if its not hot enough, one or two finely minced green chillies. Serve hot.

References:

• An overview of Thai ingredients with beautiful pictures from Jugalbandi
• The original recipe from which I adapted mine

*The vegetarian version can be made by using vegetable stock and tofu in this recipe, and omitting the fish sauce.