VEGETARIAN POSSIBLE – SOOP: Soups Of Our Planet

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November 23, 2014

JAPAN: Toshikoshi – Soba Noodle Soup 年越しそば

Here’s what we learned about Japan in our research this week:

Buckwheat noodles (soba) are traditionally eaten in Japan at midnight on New Year’s eve. According to wikipedia, “the tradition started around Edo period (1603-1867) and there are several theories believed that long soba noodles symbolize a long life.”
A recent study revealed that approximately 50% of Japanese citizens eat toshikoshi soba on New Year’s eve.
While buckwheat is gluten free, many soba noodles are made with both buckwheat and regular wheat. Check the packages carefully to find 100% buckwheat noodles if you eat gluten-free.

Here is a fun video showing you how easy toshikoshi soba is to make and how fun it is to say.

THE MEAL:

Remember back when Beckett chose Nsusu and Fufu because he could run around yelling those two words at the top of his lungs? Anyone want to guess why we made toshikoshi soba this week?

That only went on for 20 minutes or so. No idea why schnitzel was part of his chant. Anyway, our first attempt at toshikoshi soba was a complete flop and rendered utterly inedible due to the insane amounts of salt. Luckily, we had also made sushi and, since Dungeness crab season just started, a cucumber crab salad, so we didn’t go hungry. Plus, our friends arrived with fun Japanese sodas that had the kids so entranced, they barely noticed the food at all.Refusing to accept defeat, I retooled the recipe and nailed it this morning. The fun part of toshikoshi is that you can add whatever floats your boat to the soup. The first night (pictured here) included some leftover pork loin we had in the fridge, enoki mushrooms, and fish cakes. This morning, we used shiitake mushrooms, spinach, and eggs (pictured at the bottom of this post). The most important part of this soup is the broth and the noodles – the rest is just fun creation. If you have kids who aren’t so sure about trying new “ethnic” foods, a nice way to introduce them to Japanese food might be to make toshikoshi and allow them to put in whatever toppings they would like (like taco night only with Japanese soup!).

Toshikoshi – Soba Noodle Soup 年越しそば
Serves 4

Ingredients

8 cups water
1 oz sliced dried shiitake mushrooms
2 teaspoons HonDashi bonito soup stock granules *
1/2 cup tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
1/2 cup mirin
1 tablespoon sugar (more to taste)
200g package soba 100% buckwheat noodles
2 large handfuls baby spinach leaves, optional
2 eggs, soft boiled, peeled and cut in half lengthwise, optional
4 green onions, sliced thin
1 package Enoki mushrooms, ends trimmed and separated, optional
6 ounce log fish cake, sliced into thin half moons, optional **
Cooked pork loin slices, optional
Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese pepper spice)

Instructions

In a large soup pot, bring water, shiitake mushrooms, and HonDashi to a boil. Add tamari, mirin, and sugar. Reduce heat to simmer and cover.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the soba noodles and cook until al dente – approximately 8 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse well under cold water to remove any excess starch.
While noodles cook, prepare all garnishes.
Prepare bowls by adding noodles and garnishes to bowls.
Add spinach to broth and cook until wilted. Gently ladle spinach and broth onto noodles and garnishes. Serve with Shichimi Mogarashi if you like things spicy.

Cook’s Notes

* HonDashi is a flavor additive that contains fish and msg among other things and gives a very rich umami flavor. You can make your own dashi if you prefer or you can substitute the dashi with salt.

** Many types of Japanese fish cakes contain gluten. Be sure to read the packages carefully.

November 10, 2014

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SOLOMON ISLANDS: Curried Coconut and Lime Gourd Soup

Here’s what we learned about the Solomon Islands in our research this week:

There are around 1000 islands that make up the country and over 70 unique languages spoken.
It is believed that people have lived on the Solomon Islands for over 4000 years.
Due to global warming, the sea level in the Solomon Islands has been rising by eight millimetres per year compared to the global average of 2.8 to 3.6 mm
The Solomon Islands gained independence from Britain in 1978 – making the country younger than me.
While very dark skinned, 5-10% of Solomon Islanders carry a gene for blond hair!
I really want to go there someday.

photo from http://www.longboard.com.au

THE MEAL:

There is precious little to be found about soups from the Solomon Islands online. I tried reaching out to resorts on the islands for guidance, but finally found what I was looking for by browsing the online menus of the various restaurants of the many resorts on the islands. I saw a few soups repeated – vegetable curry and pumpkin curry – so I ran with that idea.

Since everything I could find about the cuisine of the Solomon Islands talked about fish, fish, and more fish, I used fish stock in my soup, but this could be vegan by using vegetable stock. The real key to this soup is the Madras curry powder (which also happens to be SUPER good on popcorn). I found it at Safeway, so I’m guessing it should be pretty easy to find. It contains salt, so if you use a different curry powder, you’ll probably want to add some salt to your soup.

So, I worked sans sous chef today. Here’s the math:

Sleepover + Sensitive/temperamental child= Sleep-deprived grumpy kid
Sleep-deprived grumpy kid + Homework packets = Epic battle
Epic battle + First time trying out the word “sucks” = Banishment to room until said homework packets were completed and a reflection about the kind of language we use in our family was written
Banishment to room until said homework packets were completed and a reflection about the kind of language we use in our family was written + Need to make/eat soup = No sous chef

He did, however, manage to smile just once yesterday… but only because I told him to do so and (for the only time yesterday) he did what I asked. That smile, while it looks so genuine, disappeared immediately when I put down the camera and the “you’re the meanest mom in the world” routine continued. Sigh. His big brother, on the other hand, was thrilled with flying under the radar for the day, but not so thrilled with the soup. As he put it, “Mama, I’m just not a gourd guy.” Duly noted.

Okay, so parenting challenges aside, I thought this was outstanding. By using Trader Joes’ pre-cut & pre-peeled butternut squash cubes the hardest part of this soup was mincing all the shallots & the ginger. If I wanted to REALLY wanted to speed this up, I could use my mini food processor and throw everything in there to mince and this recipe would REALLY be a snap. This took about 30 minutes from start to finish and hit every mark for me – comforting, bright flavors, ever so slightly spicy, healthy, quick, easy and unique. We served it garnished with jalapeño and basil with grilled fish and jasmine rice on the side. I could eat this for lunch every day and be a happy, happy camper.

Curried Coconut and Lime Gourd Soup
Serves 8

Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola (or other neutral) oil
1 cup shallots, chopped (approximately 4 large shallots)
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 lbs butternut squash, pumpkin, or other orange fleshed gourd, peeled and chopped*
4 cups fish stock or vegetable
2 cups water
3 tablespoons Madras curry powder*
1 can light coconut milk
juice of one lime

Instructions

Warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the shallots and cool until softened- approximately 3 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant being very careful not to allow the garlic to burn – approximately 1 minute.
Add the gourd, stock, and water and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the gourd is tender when pierced with a fork – approximately 30 minutes.
When gourd is tender, using a blender, food processor, or immersion blender puree soup until smooth.
Stir in curry powder, coconut milk and lime juice. Adjust seasoning – adding more salt if necessary – and serve topped with cilantro leaves, basil leaves, jalapeño slices or anything green and pretty.

Cook’s Notes

Trader Joes carries butternut squash already peeled and chopped into 1″ cubes. Crazy convenient.

Madras curry has salt added to it. If you use a different type of curry powder, you will need to add salt to your soup.

October 17, 2014

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SWEDEN: Ärtsoppa + Pannkakor med Sylt Lingon (Yellow Pea Soup + Swedish pancakes with lingonberry jam)

Here’s what we learned about Ärtsoppa in our research this week:

Ärtsoppa (EHRT-soh-puh) is traditionally eaten on Thursdays in Sweden. It’s said that even the King of Sweden eats this on Thursdays. This tradition dates back to the middle ages.
The Finnish eat this same soup, but with green peas.
In Sweden, ärtsoppa is served in schools, the military, hospitals, government offices, and many restaurants on Thursdays.
It is traditionally eaten with Swedish pancakes and lingonberry jam. Also, these pancakes are not eaten for breakfast, but rather as a lunch/dinner item. That said, we had the leftovers for breakfast the next day. 😉
The traditional beverage that accompanies this meal is a liqueur called Punsch. It is not easy to find, but I HIGHLY recommend you seek out a bottle. It is low alcohol, sweet, and complex. It’s fantastic alone, over ice, served hot, with sparkling water, with lemon squeezed in, in your coffee… you get the point. Here’s more about Punsch. If you can’t find it in a store near you, there’s always online: K&L Wine Merchants has it available.
“When it rains soup, the poor man has no spoon” ~ SWEDISH PROVERB

THE MEAL:

What an exciting night in Casa SOOP. Not only did the SF Giants win the game that will send them to the world series (sorry Cardinals fans), but we got to have pea soup, Swedish pancakes, Swedish punsch, AND we got a visit from the fire department. As it turns out baseball games, liqueur and making pancakes don’t go so well together. (Quick shout out to my local fire department: thank you for responding so quickly! Next time, I will not walk away from a browning Swedish pancake to watch a home run hit!)

Okay, so deviating a bit from our traditional Sunday SOOP, we ate this soup on a Thursday as it is done in Sweden. Frankly, I did not give the soup enough time to cook (the recipe has been adjusted to reflect an increased cooking time), but since it was a school night, we forged ahead and just ate it a little crunchy. Even still, it was a hit. I have said my whole life that I don’t like split pea soup (sorry mom), but this recipe converted me. As it was cooking, I was pretty much grumbling under my breath about how it smells like split pea soup, but my boys all kept talking about how great it smelled, so I figured at least 3 people would like the soup. Turns out I liked it too.

Every thumb up! Ärtsoppa + Pannkakor med Sylt Lingon + Värmlandskorv (pork/potato sausage)

A trip to IKEA will yield you not only Swedish mustard and lingonberry jam, but also all kinds of fun chocolates, cookies, and other Swedish goodies. Maybe that’s why the kids were so excited about dinner last night! Do hunt down the Swedish Punsch too. There is a non-alcoholic version as well where you can add your own gin to make a fab cocktail. The boys got to have some of the non-alcoholic mixed with elderflower juice from Ikea. Happy campers.

This is the liqueur you want to try to find. If you don’t like it, don’t worry – I’ll drink it for you.

Scratching off Sweden!

Ärtsoppa
Serves 6

Ingredients

2 cups dried yellow peas*
1 large smoked ham hock**
6 cups water
1 small onion
1 carrot, chopped small (I cheated and used Trader Joes’ shredded carrots)
8 cloves
2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, plus a few stalks for garnish
1/2 teaspoon – 2 teaspoons salt depending on how salty your ham hock is
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Whole grain mustard***

Instructions

Soak yellow peas for about 12-24 hours – discarding any impurities.
Before soaking overnight on the left; post soaking on the right. Huge difference!
Prepare small onion by spiking it with the 8 cloves.
After soaking, rinse the peas and add them to a large soup pot along with 6 cups water, ham hock, chopped onion, carrot, cloved onion, and thyme. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover.
Cook with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until the peas are soft enough approximately 6 hours****.
When it is tender, remove the meat and cut into small pieces and return meat to the soup – discarding bones, fat and gristle.
Remove and discard cloved onion. If desired, use an immersion blender to puree soup (we did).
Check for seasonings – adding more salt or pepper.
Serve with whole grain mustard – each person adding as much as they like to their tastes.

Cook’s Notes

* Nordic yellow peas are not the easiest thing to come by. I found them at a Scandinavian grocery store in Berkeley. They do mail orders. Nordic House has the whole yellow peas which are more traditional, but split yellow peas can be used if you can’t find the whole yellow peas. If you use split yellow peas, you do not need to soak the peas over night – just begin soaking them the morning you plan to make this soup. Bob’s Red Mill carries split yellow peas.

** This can be made vegetarian by omitting the ham hock. Since a lot of the salt/depth of flavor comes from the ham hock, please replace the ham by adding a vegetarian bouillon cube.

*** Ikea sells whole grain mustard that is unlike any mustard we’ve tasted before. It’s almost like a cross of dijon, honey mustard, and gouldens. It is quite spicy, but sweet at the same time and was absolutely delicious in this soup. If you don’t live near an Ikea, I’d recommend dijon with a little bit of honey stirred in as a substitute. Beckett found it a little too spicy for his liking, but found the lingonberry jam quite delightful.

**** Split yellow peas will take at least half the time. Next time I will use split yellow peas. 😉

Pannkakor med Sylt Lingon | Gluten-Free Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberries
Makes 12 pancakes depending on the size of your frying pan.

6 eggs
5 cups of milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour*
4 tablespoons of butter, melted

Preheat oven to “warm” or lowest setting and place a plate or cookie sheet in the oven.
Whisk the eggs and add in the milk- continuing to whisk until blended. Add flour, salt and melted butter and mix together until thoroughly combined. Batter should be fairly thin – about half as thick as traditional American pancake batter.
Spoon 1/2 cup of batter into a large buttered frying pan at medium-low heat and spread the mixture around by tilting the pan as you would for a crepe.
Brown the pancake on one side – watching for bubbles to form on the top. Before flipping, take a peek and make sure bottom side is browned. Flip your pancake over and brown on the other side.
Once browned on both sides, place in oven to keep warm while you make the rest of the pancakes.
Serve with a generous spoonful of lingonberry preserves (this can be found at IKEA)

* THIS is my go to all-purpose GF flour. It hasn’t let me down yet. I make a big batch of it and use it in everything. It was truly hard to tell that these pancakes were gluten-free.