A Light Caress Upon My Palate

After yesterday’s meaty post, I thought today I would write about something light and delicate, and yet very sustaining, soothing and restorative.

Chinese soups can be terribly involved, elaborate and time-consuming things to cook up; all that business of double-boiling or even just long, patient slow-cooking. But they don’t have to be. There are days when you just want something warm and soupy; something to calm and comfort tired and frazzled nerves - and yet, you just don’t have the energy, time or inclination to fiddle in the kitchen. On days like those, a soup like this fits the bill perfectly.

This is one of the simplest, least fussy soups I know. It looks and sounds deceptively plain; but it has an appealing light, refreshing quality to it. The flavors are very delicate – a very light body with a subtle natural sweetness.

I like my soups very chunky – the ingredients usually far outweigh the soup itself. For me, it’s more a case of “eating” soup than drinking it. But it’s all highly amenable to adaptation to suit personal preferences; simply adjust the quantities and the ingredients to your desires. As such, there aren’t any fixed measurements in the recipe.

Wong Bok Soup

Chinese cabbage (“wong bok”) *, cut into chunky pieces
1 chicken breast, skin removed
1 big piece fresh ginger, smashed
½ piece bouillon cube **

* I like using the Chinese cabbage with the slightly greener, crinkier leaves (from Australia); I find them to be sweeter, crisper and also more tender than the yellow leaves variety (from China).

** Instead of using salt, I prefer to add a small amount of MSG-free, low-sodium bouillon cube to give the soup an enhanced depth of flavor. It’s pretty much up to you what you would prefer to do.

• In a thermal or standard soup pot, bring some water (however much is needed to serve everyone) to a boil.

• Add the skinned chicken breast and the ginger, and leave to simmer on a low flame for about 20-30 minutes. [In this particular instance, my “poultry guy” had, that morning, given me a bunch of chicken gizzards – something I absolutely adored as a child; simply boiled and dipped into dark soy sauce – so those went in too, together with the chicken breast.] ^

• Return the soup to a boil, add the vegetables and the bouillon cube, and allow to simmer for a mere 10 minutes or so, or until the cabbage is at the desired tenderness. [If seasoning the soup with salt, you may wait until the end to do so.]

• Serve hot.

I tend to cook the cabbage until it is very soft and tender; I find it helps to bring out the wonderful, delicate natural sweetness of the vegetable, which I enjoy very much. Some may prefer a cabbage that still has a slight crunchy bite to it; simply adjust the cooking time accordingly.

For me, this is just another (very light, healthy) way to eat my veggies! Plus, I get to drink some warm, soothing soup as a bonus.

^ In case Singaporean readers are wondering, this soup was cooked many weeks back, in the days pre-fresh chicken ban; I’ve only just today managed to dig out the photo from under a pile of unposted photos. So, no, I do not have some top-secret, even-the-Government-doesn’t-know-about-it source for fresh chicken gizzards!

Copyright © 2004 Renee Kho. All Rights Reserved.
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