Thursday, January 22, 2009

Hakusai (Chinese Cabbage) Soup

Hakusai (Chinese Cabbage) Soup Inspired by a cooking magazine, "Lettuce Club"

I seldom buy cooking magazines, because they are rather expensive but usually all I want is just one (or two at the most) recipe(s) per magazine. But when I visited my parents' house the other day, I got to the train station too early in the morning and I needed something to kill time. So I chose this latest issue (Jan. 25, 2009) of "Lettuce Club," hoping to find some good ideas to use up hakusai (Chinese cabbage) which I often end up wasting some.

What caught my eyes in this soup recipe was the interesting combination of soup seasonings: instant Chinese chicken soup stock, miso (fermented soybean paste), soy milk, grated garlic, sesame seeds and red pepper. But when I actually tasted the soup, I found it a little too much for me... I'd like it much lighter. Maybe less garlic or less soy milk next time? The idea of putting meat between the layers of the cabbage was really nice, I would say. (Too bad, the above photo doesn't show much of the meat. I used ground pork.) I ate up a quater of hakusai at once and wanted more, even though the soup was not my favorite.

Tomorrow night I'm going to visit my hometown again to try the data card there and to help mom with another tea ceremony event. Wish me luck.

10 comments:

K and S said...

still sounds like a good way to warm up.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A delicious looking soup!

Cheers,

Rosa

Amelia Yap said...

Looks really nice, though i've never tried adding soy milk in soups before!

karaimame said...

Hmm, it looks very good! I was thinking about making it lighter too.. it would become almost a gyoza soup without the wraps ;).
Ah! Now that I´ve seen the application for weather forecast on your blog , I must mention that "Koti" means home in Finnish :)
Cheers

J P Hays said...

wow.. Lettuce Club's only 280-320 yen? Over here, a 6-month old issue costs about $20 at the local Japanese market.. That's rather sad.

Kirsty Girl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kirsty Girl said...

Sounds great. I did a simmered dish with ground pork between cabbage leaves recently. I think I'll give this a try. I'll also have to check out lettuce soup.

Anonymous said...

Your photo makes the soup look so good I'm ready to head for the kitchen and start cooking. I agree with your thoughts about making it lighter. We always have a package of the the dried Chinese sausages in the refrigerator. I bet thin slices of the sausage would be a good addition to the soup and provide flavor without being overwhelming.

obachan said...

K & S
Yep, it is.

Rosa
Thanks.

Amelia Yap
Adding soy milk gives body to the soup, but you should be careful about how much to add, I think.

Karaimame
Yeah, that's right. Gyoza without the wraps. Sounds low-cal, doesn't it?

Oh, Koti means home? How nice. Now I really feel at home being here. :)

Sirpaul484
OMG, $20!! So sorry to hear that. Here we, too, are paying so much money to buy some imported goods, if that would make you feel any better.

BTW did you know that, on their website, lettuceclub net, you can browse several pages of the latest issue of Lettuce Club by clicking on "立ち読み tachiyomi" button?

Kirsty Girl
Good luck. Lettuce soup sounds good, too.

Mora
Yeah, sausages must be a nice addition to cabbage soup. I wish I could get good sausages here somehow...

Rinshinomori said...

Hi - still feel funny calling you Obachan since I'm more obachan than you.

That soup acutally sounds quite interesting and went to lettuce club page looking for it.

BTW, I wish you much happiness in your decision to be with your parents. I think it is great that you still have them to enjoy.

What part of Shikoku are you in now? I've been to Shikoku with my mother in about 9 years ago trying to walk to different temples. Unfortunately, we made it to 4 temples - it was too hot for us.