Home Sick - Healing Food Number 1

Okay, so Brig had been in school for 2 months and brought home a cold at the same time my mother-in-law (Lucia) came to visit.  She brought with her a cold she caught from my niece Abi whom she had been visiting before us.  The upshot was we all got sick - a coughing, runny nose kind of winter cold.  So we needed some healing foods to kick those bad bugs out of our bodies and here is what I am making this week.

Hot and Sour Soup

I modified this recipe from A Spoonful of Ginger by Nina Simmonds, a highly recommend this cookbook as an addition to your library.  I also make a vegetarian version with a vegetable stock and omit the chicken.  To make this a quick supper, marinate the chicken in the morning and it will be seasoned in time for supper.  If you don't like tofu(how could you not?) you can omit it.  My kids love tofu, they think it is a kind of chicken and Reidar, my non-meat eater, could easily go through 6 oz of tofu in a broth all by himself.  Two comments regarding the seasonings:

1) I like my hot and sour soup on the sour side, you can always start with only 4T of chinese black vinegar and increase to taste.

2) With only 1t sambal olek to start with this is a kid friendly recipe, for Scott and I we typically augment the heat individually so I pass some extra sambal to the table.

6 C chicken stock

1/3 C rice wine

6 slices fresh ginger, about the size of a quarter, smashed lightly

8 whole scallions, ends trimmed

10 oz ground chicken breast

Chicken Marinade

• 3 T rice wine
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 t sesame oil
• 1T chinese black vinegar
• freshly ground black pepper

1 lb firm tofu, excess water pressed out and cut into small square

1/2 sliced shiitake mushrooms

2 C julienned leeks

2 1/2 T cornstarch

Seasonings

5 1/2 T Chinese black vinegar

3 T soy sauce

2 T kecap manis

2 t minced fresh ginger, or to taste

1 t sesame oil

1 t salt or to taste

1 t sambal olek, or to taste

Bring the stock, rice wine, ginger and scallions to a boil - reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Set aside, when cool remove the ginger and scallions.  Meanwhile mix together the ground chicken, rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and black pepper.  Let the chicken marinate for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.

In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, heat 1 T oil until hot.  Add the chicken and cook, stirring frequently to break it up until no longer pink.  Add the chicken broth, mushrooms,tofu and leeks and heat until boiling.  Boil for about 2 minutes, skimming the surface to remove any impurities.

Mix the cornstarch with a little water and slowly add the slurry to the soup, stirring constantly to prevent lumps.  Add the Seasonings and stir.  Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.  Ladle into bowls and serve immediately.