I love soup; I could live on it. They are easy to make; you can be very creative with ingredients; they are healthy and everything is in one bowl to eat. Let me retrace my steps a bit to “healthy,” and add that most soups are healthy. Those heavily creamy mixtures that are also cheese laden, not quite so healthy. You know who you are broccoli, cauliflower, cheese, and one I just saw online, “Cream Cheese Potato Soup.” Whoa! My arteries are clogging at the thought while my mouth is watering with a craving. Not for me, though, the dairy would send my stomach into a tailspin.
Lately, my soup tastes have been going Asian with a hunger for ginger, turmeric, and a thinner broth. And that is where this recipe comes in. It relies on those ingredients as the base spices. It is also a very versatile soup, lending itself to easy adaptations.
While there are some really great nutrients in the vegetables in this soup, the stars are the spices and herbs. It is heavily dosed with anti-inflammatory ingredients, such as ginger, turmeric, garlic, onions, and cilantro. So, the bottom line is this soup is really good for the skin and because of its anti-inflammatory ingredients it’s great for skin conditions, such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, keratosis pilaris, etc. Including this soup in your regular diet along with foods high in omega 3, fresh fruit, and fresh dark green vegetables will have your skin glowing.
Ginger has been used in eastern cultures for centuries as “food medicine.” Turmeric in Ayurvedic medicine is considered a healing food for acne and other skin conditions. If you can get fresh turmeric, it’s the best. While dried is good, fresh turmeric has a smoother, less pungent taste then it’s dried form. Asian markets and larger Whole Foods carry it. It really makes a difference in the taste. But, I don’t always have fresh turmeric on hand, so I use the dry form.
The base of the soup always has either vegetable or chicken stock, onions, ginger, turmeric, cilantro, and garlic. While I change-up certain vegetables, I always include onions, some type of mushroom and greens (spinach, kale, watercress, etc.). Really, the soup is delicious with just those three vegetables. And it great served with lime wedges. Lime juice adds another level of flavor.
I love using homemade stock, but hey, time doesn’t always allow for it. When I use commercial stock, I use a very good quality stock and always organic. I also find commercial stocks much more condensed in taste, so I dilute them. Usually, I dilute them about half stock and half water. Vegetable stock I may dilute a bit more.
This soup is a great one to play with for flavor and ingredients. I usually serve it with bean thread or rice noodles. Lately, however, we have eaten it without any starch, or I have really enjoyed serving it with sticky short grain rice. That’s what I love about it, you can play around with the ingredients. For examples, if I could eat shrimp I would probably add some at the end of the cooking process.
The other thing I enjoy about making this soup is that the vegetables are rough cut. They aren’t diced in small pieces, so it really speeds up the time. The soup can be made in about 30 minutes or less, depending on the vegetables added.
Yum Asian Style Anti-Inflammation Soup – serves 6
64 oz homemade chicken or vegetable stock – if using commercial stock dilute 32 oz of stock with 32 oz of water
1 large onion cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced – about 4 cups
2 cups sliced mushrooms of any variety (frozen shitake nice to have on hand for this soup)
2 cups rough cut chopped greens (spinach, kale, swiss chard, watercress)
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 Tablespoon fresh grated ginger
2 – 3 teaspoons fresh grated turmeric (if using dry turmeric, 2 teaspoons)
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 Tablespoon chopped jalapeno or other hot pepper (optional)
salt/pepper to taste
6 lime wedges
4 – 5 cups prepared rice noodles, or 4 cups cooked rice (optional)
If serving with rice noodles, start the noodles soaking. If serving with rice, start cooking rice.
In a large pot, add the stock, onions, ginger, turmeric, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat so soup simmers. Cook about 12 minutes; add the mushrooms and greens, cook about 10 minutes; add cilantro. Taste for seasonings. You want a nice balance between the ginger and turmeric. Simmer for additional 5 minutes. Serve as is or over rice noodles or rice.
Options
other vegetables – If you use other vegetables, make sure to keep a nice balance of the amount of vegetables used so the soup remains brothy. Also add the vegetables that take longer to cook first, so the softer vegetables, keep their color.
Some vegetables suggestions: celery, carrots cut on diagonal. If you use celery or carrots, add them with the onions and cook until tender soft. Other vegetables, such as snow peas or peas, add in the last 5 minutes to keep their texture and color.
Add a couple tablespoons of tamari or soy sauce. If you do this, reduce or eliminate the salt.
Add a little shrimp in the last few minutes.
Add some bean sprouts last 5 minutes of cooking
Sometimes I sauté the onion (carrots and celery too if being added) in some extra virgin olive oil for a few minutes then add half the spices (ginger, turmeric, garlic) and sauté for about a minute or so before adding the chicken stock. Then I add the remaining portion of the spices after the stock begins to simmer.
Happy Eating
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