How often do you have soup? In a typical Asian meal, soup is a constant item that completes a meal.  However, in the West, soup is most commonly enjoyed for lunch.  If you disagree, please correct me! Soup not only warms you up but is very satisfying.  The following story may entice you to enjoy soup more often!

I once had a chiropractor who lost some weight and so I asked him what type of diet he used. He told me his method was soup.  At the time, he was in his 30’s and as you can imagine a young man at that age has a very healthy appetite.  So, to help him curb his hunger, before digging in to his supper, he had a bowl of hot soup.  Yes, hot enough so he had to enjoy it slowly.  Now, as one knows, it takes a while before your brain registers that you are full, so there were two benefits to his method.

  • He filled himself with liquid before eating his main meal
  • The soup was hot so he had to eat it slowly, which allowed time for his brain to react, curbing his appetite

You may want to try this method if you are interested in going on a diet, because it really isn’t a diet. It’s just a method to help you control over indulging.

So, today’s recipe using Chinese Cabbage is soup. Again, we may have meat issues so you can choose according to what is available in your part of the world.  For this recipe, I find ground pork has the most flavor, however ground chicken and turkey work fine.  If you are vegetarian, you can leave the meat out and add an egg if you are not vegan.  I like to be flexible, if you can tell….

Chinese Cabbage Soup

  • 2-3 leaves Chinese cabbage chopped finely
  • 1/4 diced onion
  • 1/2lb. ground meat
  • 5 cups water
  • 2 1/2 teaspoon chicken stock (the stock I use recommends one teaspoon to one 8 oz. water)
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon sake
  • dash of white pepper

I tried to keep the ingredients to a minimum, but I really recommend you purchase a bottle of Japanese sake or rice wine.  I use it for everything.  Here in this recipe, it just takes away that ‘meaty’ smell and gives it more flavor.

Method

In a pot, pour cooking oil, (use whatever you normally use – personally, I use olive oil and  it doesn’t seem to affect the taste) and fry the onion until golden brown.  Add the ground meat and brown.  Add the tablespoon of sake, then add the water.  Bring it to a boil and then add the chicken stock and soy sauce.  As you can see, I cut the chicken stock in half because I added the soy sauce which has a high sodium content.  If you find that you need more flavor, you may increase either, but if you much watch your sodium intake I think this has enough flavor.

Add the chopped Chinese cabbage, sesame oil and finally, the white pepper.  Simmer until cabbage is done.  The white pepper gives it a distinctive flavor that is found typically in Chinese food.  Hope you give this a try!

 

photo: Basykes, Pixabay

4 thoughts on “Chinese Cabbage Soup”

  1. Pingback: Chinese Cabbage Soup | Asian Lifestyle Design | cooktoday

  2. Jenny, I happen to really love soup. I also need to drop a few pounds – how perfect! thank you for this post. By the way, I think you’re right about Westerners eating soup more at lunch than at dinner.

  3. Angela, happy to hear you love soup. So do I! Good to know you agree that Westerners have soup at lunch. Hope you try to have it at dinner too. Hot soup is also good in the summer because they say it helps circulation….makes you perspire.

  4. great points altogether, you simply received a new reader. What might you suggest about your publish that you made
    some days in the past? Any certain?

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