mom's watercress soup |
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Mom makes this when it's "cold" in Hawaii or to chase away a head cold. My Dad, sisters and my kids adore it.
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Mix sliced pork, garlic, ginger and sake together and let sit for at least 30 minutes, all day if you can remember to do this in the morning.
Drizzle a tiny bit of canola oil into a dutch oven. Cook the pork until browned. Add broths and let simmer for at least 30 minutes. Sprinkle a bit of dashi powder and taste. Be very conservative, because dashi powder is very salty. Toss watercress in at the very end, and just when the stems start to soften, serve steaming hot. This should only take a couple of minutes.
NOTES:
1) Don't worry that there isn't very much pork. It is used primarily as a flavoring agent, and more pork makes the soup too greasy.
2) Mom uses sake because in Hawaii, there is such a thing as cooking sake and it is cheaper than sherry. I used the last of a sweet late harvest semillon and that seemed to work out well. According to Mom, the alcohol is really to take the smell out of the meat.
3) Mom swears by Swanson's brand broths, but I've used the Safeway organic brand and everyone was happy.
4) This soup should not be made in large batches and frozen because watercress loses its bright green color pretty quickly. Leftovers will start to look like pond water, but it still taste great.
5) Mom says kale is OK to use if you cannot get watercress.
Drizzle a tiny bit of canola oil into a dutch oven. Cook the pork until browned. Add broths and let simmer for at least 30 minutes. Sprinkle a bit of dashi powder and taste. Be very conservative, because dashi powder is very salty. Toss watercress in at the very end, and just when the stems start to soften, serve steaming hot. This should only take a couple of minutes.
NOTES:
1) Don't worry that there isn't very much pork. It is used primarily as a flavoring agent, and more pork makes the soup too greasy.
2) Mom uses sake because in Hawaii, there is such a thing as cooking sake and it is cheaper than sherry. I used the last of a sweet late harvest semillon and that seemed to work out well. According to Mom, the alcohol is really to take the smell out of the meat.
3) Mom swears by Swanson's brand broths, but I've used the Safeway organic brand and everyone was happy.
4) This soup should not be made in large batches and frozen because watercress loses its bright green color pretty quickly. Leftovers will start to look like pond water, but it still taste great.
5) Mom says kale is OK to use if you cannot get watercress.