The Tangy Harvest Part 1: Sorrel Soup

Sorrel

I have a clump of sorrel in my herb garden. It’s the first thing I get to harvest and eat in any quantity each year and it keeps on producing all season. It has a tangy  flavor that I really enjoy. Over the course of the summer, I mix it in with sauted greens, salads and sauces. My annual tradition is to make that first big bunch into sorrel soup. I go for the most basic version of this soup, which showcases the flavor of the sorrel. I’ve tried making a vegan version with oil and almond milk instead of butter and cream, but I really find that I like the dairy version best.

Sorrel Soup

Sorrel Soup

2tbs of butter

2 cups of veggie broth, warmed

3-4 cups of sorrel leaves, washed, any really tough stems removed and coarsely chopped

2 cups of cream or half and half (good fresh cream will be noticed here)

salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the sorrel and toss to coat. Cook while stirring until it starts to wilt. It turns from bright green to a greenish brown. Stir in the broth and cook over medium for 5 minutes. Cool slightly and puree in blender, food processor or with an immersion blender. Stir in the cream and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium until heated through (do not boil). Taste and adjust seasonings.

that sorrel soup sure was good

Oden for Vegetarians

Oden is a traditional Japanese one pot dish that combines vegetables with meat and seafood cooked in a soy sauce broth. I have been looking for a way to come up with a vegetarian version without much success– until now. In addition to making it veggie, I also wanted it to be tasty and interesting without relying on too many hard to find specialty ingredients. The appeal of this dish is the wide variety of textures as well as flavors that comes to you all in one bowl. After a series of fairly mediocre attempts, I’ve finally hit upon the right combination of flavors and textures. I’m sure this recipe will continue to evolve.

Dashi stock is super easy to make from scratch. I think that Just Hungry has the best advice for vegetarian dashi variations. The only required ingredient is kombu, dried kelp. Other variations include dried bonito (tuna) flakes, ginger and dried shitakes. Instant dashi powder works just fine, too. You can find it in Asian markets. I know Mom’s House Chinese Food Market in Amherst carries it (they don’t have a website).

You can vary the stuff you put in it to suit your tastes and what you have around. I think you could use most vegetables, you’d just have to vary the timing of when to add them (probably not tomatoes, though). If you do want to throw in some meat or fish in, hey go for it. I do suggest frying the tofu. I also suggest seeking out the mochi, a japanese style rice cake that bakes up puffy and chewy. Most health food stores carry the Grainaissance brand in the refrigerated section (make sure you don’t accidentally buy the cinnamon raisin variety!)

I realize this recipe is full of multi-tasking, but that’s just the kind of cook I am. Please break this down into one thing at a time if you need/want to.

Vegetarian Oden

The stuff
1 lb block of firm tofu
rice flour or cornstarch to coat the tofu
neutral vegetable oil to fry the tofu (canola, corn, or peanut)
1 lb of red or yellow potatoes, peeled and diced ½”
2 medium sized carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
1 ½ to 2 cups of broccoli, stems peeled and diced ¼”, crown cut into ½” florets
8-10 button or crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 package of mochi, about 6 oz., preferably a savory flavored variety, cut into one inch square

The Broth
4 1/2 cups of dashi
5-6 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for at least 10 minutes
6 tblspoons of good soy sauce or tamari
4 tbs of sake or 1/3 cup of white wine
4 tablespoons of mirin
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into thin rounds

The mustard dipping sauce
1 tsp or so of wasabi powder
4 tbs or so of dijon mustard
1 tsp black sesame seeds (optional)
or
japanese mustard sauce -the kind they use at japanese steakhouses, another thing to look for in Asisan markets and there are many recipes out there

Start by making your dashi, either by soaking your kombu or from instant powder.

Take your tofu out of the packaging, wrap in a clean dish towel for about 20 minutes (to remove excess moisture)

Meanwhile, combine the potato, 2 tbs soy sauce, 1/2 cup of dashi and a little more water to cover the potatoes in a big soup pot. Cook over med-hi heat until tender. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon, keeping any leftover liquid in the pot.

While the potatoes are cooking, coat the tofu in flour and fry in oil in a small pan. Drain on paper towels.

Heat the oven to 450. If you are making the mustard sauce in this recipe, mix wasabi powder with a little water to form a paste. Set it aside.

Add the rest of the cooking liquid ingredients to the pot (include the soaking water from the mushrooms). Bring to a boil and then lower heat and keep at a simmer for 20 minutes. Then add all of the vegetables except for the broccoli florets. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Put your squares of mochi on a cookie sheet and put in the oven. Add the broccoli florets to the broth. Simmer your soup and bake your mochi for another 10 minutes. Take the mochi out of the oven, they should be puffy brown and crisp. Turn the heat off of the soup and fish the dried mushrooms out of the broth. Squeeze the water out of them with tongs backinto thre soup and slice very thin (discard any stems that are too touch). Return slices to the soup.

Stir dijon mustard and sesame seeds into the wasabi powder.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls, place a couple of pieces of tofu and a couple of poieces of mochi on a small plate with a little dish of the mustard sauce. Take one piece of tofu or mochi at a time, let it sit in the soup for half a minute and then take out and dip in the mustard sauce to eat. Alternate with spoonfuls of soup. I like to use chop sticks to eat the tofu/mochi and eat the veggies out of the soup.