Monday 5 January 2015

My Oink Oink Vegetable Soup


It was the second day of new year and I was happily hanging around in the house. I took a day off from work to enjoy the long weekend. I was so happy and so relaxed. This is what retirement must be like :)


I didn't have to cook because I had already boiled a big pot of soup the day before. I wasn't sure if I wanted to put this soup on the blog because there is nothing special about it. All I did was chuck stuff into the pot and brought it to a boil. That is what I love about soups. There is nothing fussy about it (unless if you are making those artsy fartsy soups that they serve at fine dining restaurants) and you can just walk away while it does its thing on the stove. 


What I did was scald a packet of pork ribs to get rid of scum and other impurities. This is a method I learnt from my aunty and if you do this, your soup will be clear and free of those icky bits of blood and whatnots.

Scalded pork ribs. Not a pretty sight.
While the water was boiling, I washed and cut the vegetables. I used zucchinis, carrots, onions and cabbage. Since I had some leftover cherry tomatoes, I put them in as well.


Once the ribs were scalded, I rinsed them under running water and left them to drain. Meantime, I put a pot of water to the boil. Once the water came to a rolling boil, I chucked in the onions, pork ribs and all the vegetables. I pretty much let them boil at the same time because I like my vegetable soft and soggy in the soup. When the water came to a boil again, I lowered the heat and let the soup come to a gentle simmer. Then I left it to its own devices for a good 1.5 hours. And oh, I put in two chicken stock cubes.


Once the soup was done, I fried some minced garlic and tossed the fried garlic and oil into the soup. This is what adds on to the aroma and flavor of the soup. I was too lazy to make fried shallots. Now that would have enhanced the soup even further. But garlic oil was good enough for me.

Just in case you were wondering where is the meat.
To serve, I seasoned the soup with lots of freshly cracked pepper (lots!) and garnished with finely sliced Chinese parsley. I like to overdose my soup with pepper and Chinese parsley because it makes the soup taste even better. In fact after taking pictures, I added some more Chinese parsley.


This bowl of soup is a day old and it tasted even better than the one I had when it was freshly cooked. I love soups like this so much that I have them for breakfast. It is a nice change from eggs and definitely a healthier alternative for me in place of nasi lemak or noodles. My soup is meant to last for the weekdays and I don't get tired of having it 4-5 days in a row. But of course I will boil a different soup next week. Try this simple soup. You can use chicken and any other vegetable of your choice.










Pork Ribs and Vegetable Soup
Recipe source : Phong Hong
(Note : This recipe makes 4-5 servings)

Ingredients :

- 800g pork ribs, scalded, rinsed and drained
- 2 zucchinis, cut into chunks
- 2 carrots, cut into chunks
- 1 small head of cabbage, cut into smaller pieces
- a handful of cherry tomatoes (optional)
- 2 cubes of chicken stock (I use Maggi)
- pepper to taste
- some Chinese parsley to garnish (optional)
- 1.2 litres water
Note : I did not add any salt to the soup because it was already salty enough due to the chicken stock.

For garlic oil :
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- enough oil (I used about 2 tbsp)

Method :
1. In a pot, bring water to a boil.
2. Add the pork ribs, zucchinis, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes and chicken stock cubes.
3. Bring the water up to a boil and then cover and then lower the flame. Simmer for about 1.5 hours until the pork ribs are tender.
4. Add fried garlic to the soup if you like (highly recommended)
5. To serve, season with pepper and finely sliced Chinese parsley.

To make garlic oil :
- Heat up oil in a wok and fry the garlic until brown. Then toss the fried garlic and oil into the soup.

50 comments:

  1. Good morning dearie.. I'm thinking of two stuffs when I read your title: choy keok or ABC soup (my favourite).. Both also not correct, haha! But your first picture really looks like harm choy ABC soup, I love anything with harm choy.. Like harm choy tofu soup, harm choy duck soup.. Your soup looks very flavourful, like sup kambing, really! I can have 3 bowls! I would cook more, and eat for a few days..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Louiz! I love choy keok. Can have that soup for days and not get tired of it. Since I already did that before, I put this other soup up. Actually soups are so convenient and nice to eat. Will be having more soups this year.

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  2. Replies
    1. Do that, Sharon! It's the easiest thing to cook in the kitchen.

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  3. It looks good. I love soup too and miss my mom's soup.

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    Replies
    1. Chris, my mom hardly cooked soup. Oops..she is going to read this hee..hee...

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  4. Good morning Phong Hong! Love this hearty soup, looks so delicious!
    Nice banner and neat blog page ~ LIKE!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ann! Thank you for your kind compliments :)

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  5. Hey, I made soup too...feeling guilty from overeating...hehe!! Only difference is, I finish my soup the day I make it (I don't keep it for days coz the vege tend to go too soft over time).

    By the way, they featured my Eat Me post on their facebook and chose your comment to be posted along (just in case you'd like to know).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kris, some soups have to be consumed on the day itself and I tend to make those that I can keep. All this due to laziness hah,,hah.. Oh, I must go check out the Eat Me FB page!

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  6. Yin and yang...meat and veg! Very colourful soup!

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    Replies
    1. Arthur, soups are so good and so easy to cook. Will make more from now on.

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  7. ooh, this would be such a nice bowl of soup to be walloped on a rainy day!! there are oink-oink ribs and also an array of veggie inside, so wholesome and also balanced.. i like this.. :)

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    Replies
    1. SK, it is a complete meal by itself and easy to eat too.

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  8. new year new header!! i notice that!! showing off all your mouthwatering bakes and cooking!! OMG, sinful sinful, and that steamed prune cake with chocolates and Nutella Stuffed Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies can never missed being spotted by me!!! :D

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    Replies
    1. hee..hee.. I chose all the best photos that I have and struggled to compose that banner. Not bad lah for this auntie :D

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  9. Phong Hong, my best recipe is soup....just dump everything into the pot and leave it to boil. I am the lazy one...soup suits me fine.

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    Replies
    1. Nancy, that's the best thing to cook actually. Not only is it easy, it is delicious and nutritious too!

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  10. Hi Phong Hong, not only is the soup tempting, Your blog header looks so attractive. How did you do that? I daren't do much changes cos' I was afraid it may mess up the layout. Can teach me how?

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    Replies
    1. Kimmy, I followed the tutorial here :
      http://www.memoriesoncloverlane.com/2009/08/tutorial-on-how-to-make-blog-banner.html

      It took me quite a while to get it right. It is not difficult, just need to experiment and try out. I did it on new year day itself hee..hee..

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    2. Thanks Phong Hong,I hope my old mind can work as well as yours to get it right and presentable. Just finished with my travel posts and now starting to get my brother's company accounts done in between baking cookies for the CNY. Too much in hand to do but I must do it one day.

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  11. Hi there! Lovely soup. I love to cook soups too because it is fuss-free and healthy. I just throw everything in slow cooker and let it does its wonder. ^^

    Happy new year to you and family.

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    Replies
    1. Happy New Year to you and your family too, Rose! I will have to agree 100% with you about soups. They are going to feature regularly on my dining table :)

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  12. Is the Chinese parsley the same as coriander?

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  13. Just throw everything into the pot ya? I love this!

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  14. Hi Phong Hong,
    Oh yes I'll dump everything in the slow cooker when I made Chinese soups ... at times there are so much 'liao' (ingredients) in the soup that all I need is to cook some rice.... hee hee that settled one 'complete & hearty' meal ^-^!

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    Replies
    1. Karen, yeah a one dish meal - very ideal!

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  15. Some heartwarming soup you've got there Phong Hong! I have been skiving from cooking and baking for the whole week, starting the year on a slower and more relaxed pace. Gotta pick myself up and make more soup like you soon! Yums!

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    Replies
    1. Janice, that's quite normal. That's why I boil soup hee..hee...

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  16. Hi Phong Hong,
    Your soup sounds and looks delicious! I love lots of pepper in my soup too!
    Happy New Year!! Wish you all the best in 2015 and a delicious year too! :)

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    Replies
    1. Happy New Year, Joyce! I think this is the year for soups hee..hee..

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  17. I will pour boiling water over my pork too and let the pork sit for 2 to 3 minutes in the water. I don't know about the impurities, for me it is to get rid of the extra strong porky smell that might ruin the soup.
    I think you are making an Australian soup lah, zucchini and chicken stock. Here we make soup got use chicken stock one meh?

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    Replies
    1. Australian soup? hee..hee.. Yes, we do use chicken stock over here mah? Some people make their own by boiling chicken bones but me too lazy for that. So I use Maggi :)

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  18. Your soup looks so appetizing and yummy, the only soup I know how to make is 菜心汤 choy sum soup

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    Replies
    1. Libby, there are so many types of soup and I shall explore more this year!

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  19. oinbk oink soup...me likey!!!!1

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  20. Hi Phong Hong, the oink oink soup chef :p

    Happy 2015!!! Wish that I feel like retiring... I feel that I have to do never-ending list of chores even when I'm on holidays.

    Totally agreed... Yeah. Soup is always sweeter with more flavours if it is cooked for more than 1 day :D

    Zoe

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    Replies
    1. Hi Zoe! You know I love my oinks LOL! Well, you are one busy lady with lots of energy and I reckon you will be zooming along with your many bakes in 2015 :)

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  21. Hi Sis, your soup looks so delicious. However what other meat suitable to replace that pork ribs? and your garlic oil sounds tempting too.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Yuza! Chicken is a good substitute. Best to use kampung chicken as I find that the commercial ones become too soft after boiling. Try garlic oil in your next soup :)

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  22. really love how this soup looks, with a side of chili padi + soya sauce it'll be best!

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    Replies
    1. Hi KY! Oh yes, looks like I forgot about the chili padi and soya sauce!

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  23. Very nice vegetable pork rib soup as I have not come across zucchinis in Chinese soup before. When I used to cook I also cooked the pork ribs first and discard the water to have a clear soup but my spouse says no more porky taste if I did that as he prefers unclear pork soup so I gave up boiling soup, hahaha.

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    Replies
    1. Mun, the porky smell is quite strong and I don't like it. Your spouse makes cooking soup very easy then hee..hee..

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  24. Pork is the nicest meat to cook soups! Your soup looks like ABC dessert to me with nice colours floating.

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