Saturday, September 12, 2009

Soup for an incipient cold


Ok, this post is not technically an "Aussie food" post. Last night, I felt like I was coming down with a cold. You know the deal, that almost a sore throat, runny nose, almost a fever kind of feeling.

I don't know about you, but when I feel a cold coming on, I want a nice hearty soup. I like ginger, garlic, miso and greens to boost immunity. So I cooked this:


Asian Inspired Tofu, Rice and Vegetable Soup


Serves 6

2 tablespoons rice bran oil or other mild cooking oil
320 g extra firm tofu, cut into 1 1/2 cm cubes
1 small onion
4 cloves crushed garlic (I cheated and used the stuff from a jar)
1 cm piece fresh ginger, minced
1 cup rice
bunch Asian greens (I used choy sum, but you could use gai lan, bok choy or wombok)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped into 2 cm pieces
4 sliced mushrooms
2 sliced carrots
5 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons cooking sherry
4 tablespoons miso paste
Water
  1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil. Add the tofu and onion. Fry over a gentle heat until onion is translucent.
  2. Add garlic and ginger. Fry gently until ginger is fragrant.
  3. Chop the Asian greens. Separate the stems and leaves. You will be putting them in at different stages.
  4. Add all the remaining ingredients, other than the miso paste and leaves of your Asian greens.
  5. cover with water to about 5 cm above the other ingredients. To speed this up, I boiled the water in a kettle and just poured over the boiling water.
  6. Bring to boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until rice is cooked.
  7. Add the leaves of your green and cook for 2 minutes.
  8. Remove from heat and add miso paste. Stir well to combine.
  9. Add more boiling water, if you want more liquid.
  10. Serve and enjoy.
It was very good. You could add chilli if you like spicy soups. Did it work to cure my cold? Well I don't feel too bad today, so maybe it helped.

6 comments:

  1. That looks really yummy and healthy!

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  2. Andy absolutely swears by a mix of ginger, garlic and chilli to cure just about anything, but especially colds. When I start getting sick he makes a drink involving those three, plus a little olive oil, some lemon juice and sugar to make it vaguely palatable. Then top up the cup with hot water and drink it quickly so you can't taste it! I don't think it's been scientifically tested, but on the occasions when I have done that I haven't been as sick for as long as other illnesses. I hope you kick the cold before it gets bad!

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  3. That soup looks like just the thing for an oncoming cold. Or, you know, just for anytime. I love all those flavours. So yummy!

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  4. Ginger is such a good cold-cure! That soup looks just like what I would want when in need of something to make me feel better, yummo!

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  5. Yeah, I love a good soup when I'm feeling a bit sick or just feeling a bit down. That soup sounds delicious...

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  6. Theresa, I think that I'll stick with soup!

    Thanks for the compliments. It was pretty good. I had the leftovers for lunch today and it was even better.

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