One of my favorite soups that MOH prepares is a simple napa cabbage soup with onions, tofu, grape tomatoes, cilantro, green onions and vermicelli. Whenever I eat this soup, I always think back on the time when I had food poisoning and MOH's soup was the only thing I could eat without vomiting.
If you like seafood type soups, you'll enjoy this Vietnamese asparagus soup, sup mang cua.
Sup mang cua was an essential "get better" soup during my childhood. Even this past holiday break, my mother prepared the soup as a way for my sister to combat a cold. It's a light soup that contains crab, quail egg, asparagus, eggs, green onions, and cilantro. It has this great thickness, which lends to the cornstarch binding to the soup, and can be incredibly hearty with fresh stalks of asparagus, green onions, and crab loaded inside.
This soup is very simple to make and is so flexible with ingredient variation. I've seen this soup done with pork broth, chicken broth, crab stock, fish stock, so I think depending on what type of broth base you like, you can adjust accordingly. This is also a great soup to do once asparagus (white or green, depending on your preference) is in season!
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| Photo courtesy of Quadell |
In addition, this soup is really light and serves for a great pick-me-up on a wintry day. One thing that is really unique about this soup are the quail eggs. Quail eggs are smaller than regular eggs, but packed with tons of flavor. They taste more rich and have this great creamy yolk - if you enjoy egg yolk as much as me, then you're in for a treat!
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| Photo courtesy of Hisgett |
Ingredients for a standard pot of soup (6 quarts):
- 4 quarts of soup broth of your choice (chicken is preferable, though some people do pork broth for more flavor)
- 1 can of quail eggs (or fresh eggs, but you'll need to boil and painstakingly peel the shells!)
- Bundle of asparagus (white or green), sliced thinly or peeled in strips (can only peel if you first boil the asparagus separately)
- 2 cups fresh crab meat or canned (fresh tastes better, but canned can be done if on a tight budget or crunched for time!)
- 2 eggs, mixed like you're going to scramble them for breakfast
- 2 tbsp cornstarch for thickening agent
- 1 cup of chopped cilantro
- 1 cup of chopped green onions
- Salt, pepper, or fish sauce to season
Protocol:
1. Put broth in pot and wait for boiling
2. Once broth is boiled, add in quail eggs
3. Add in asparagus (my mother likes to peel the asparagus into thin strips, but I'm super lazy so I just slice my asparagus)
4. Add in crab meat, either fresh crab meat or crab meat from a can, your choice
5. While waiting for soup to boil, scramble 2 eggs and slowly add mixture into soup broth - this will create a stringy egg appearance in the soup, similar to an Egg Drop Soup
6. Season broth additionally with any salt and pepper, or fish sauce
7. Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and slowly add into the soup - the soup should thicken. If you want the soup to be thicker, add more cornstarch, but remember to first dissolve it into water - no one wants to eat clumpy cornstarch in their soup!
8. When of right consistency, turn off the heat and garnish soup with cilantro and green onions - enjoy with extra pepper if desired!
This soup can be customized accordingly depending on your flavor preferences. My mom likes to sneak in shredded chicken sometimes instead of crab, and it tastes just as good. I think the two ingredients that are non-negotiable are the asparagus and quail eggs, but if you find a cool variation, please share!
Until next time, happy eating all!
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