The Unassuming Vegetable Soup Unveiled

I've always been of the opinion that vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose unless accompanied by a good cut of meat. So imagine the folks' surprise one evening when I come home with a bagful of fresh veggies and announce that I was going to make vegetable soup that evening. I have to be honest, it was the mushrooms' fault... I was only planning a quick run to the store to get some milk but ohhh the medley of brown n white cups n buttons in the vegetable section called out to me and pulled me towards them all the way from the dairy section. So off I went, literally floating towards them, all the while imagining what I could possibly turn them into.

And then my eyes fell on a most glorious sight - fresh, green, leafy bok choy and the decision was made-Vegetable soup it was! I'm still exploring chinese vegetables and although I've been told it can be used in anything from stir-fries to pickles, bok choy is something I only think of in connection with soup. I personally enjoy it best just lightly dipped into hot water till the leaf wilts - too much cooking kills much of the flavour.

Some fresh celery here, some brocolli there and I was done.

I decided to make my own stock, so I picked up a cooked chicken and separated the meat from the carcass once I came home. (Umm....yea....of course my soup just had to have some meat in it, it wouldn't qualify as Abi cooking otherwise!) In my defense, it barely made up 10% of the soup...

So, on to the stock! Chicken bones, hot water a bit of salt and oh wait... I remembered I had some lemongrass n lime leaves in the freezer, so out they come and go into the water. A few semi-crushed cloves of garlic to take away that boiled chicken taste, and pretty soon the kitchen was starting to smell heavenly....

While the stock boiled away I quickly chopped up my veggies (including a carrot and some cabbage I found in the fridge and some onions - the best part about vegetable soup is you can quite literally put everything and anything into it!). After straining the stock, the carrots were the first to take the plunge - they do take the longest to cook and you do not want to have crunchy carrots in a soup! The mushrooms and bok choy I leave for the end, they're the most delicate both in texture and taste and overcooking is the surest way to ruin them. Someone once told me that vegetable soup should never be allowed to boil, always maintained at a light simmer so that the nutritional content of the veggies remains intact. Nutritional content aside, the taste suffers too due to over-boiling.

A deep whiff of the soup almost makes my knees go weak.....the lemongrass has really blown its aroma into every molecule of the soup and the medley of veggie flavours is tantalising in its sheer variety. Needless to say, the end result was highly appreciated and my massive pot quite amazingly almost emptied itself by the end of dinner...

Simple, hearty, satisfying and guilt-free - what more could you want from a meal?

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Speaking of guilt-free, the chinese got it bang on when they invented the wonderfully unique communal meal commonly known as a 'hot-pot'. Quite literally a hot, pot, it's basically a boiling pot of soup at your dinner table. Piqued your interest? More to follow on this one...

Till next time folks!