Here’s a quick vegetable broth, infused with the umami of dried shrimp. Only 5 ingredients, including water and salt.

Time: 2/5
Took all of 15 minutes, and the workflow is very streamlined

Effort: 2/5
Literally put some stuff in a pot and BOIL IT

Highway to Health

Chinese soups can be broadly divided into multi-hour labours of love that are simmered for hours, and quick broths that come together in 10 or 15 minutes. This super simple vegetable broth is in the latter camp, like my earlier 5-ingredient baby bok choy soup. The recipe is very similar, except with this soup I use Napa cabbage instead of bok choy and substitute pork for dried shrimp.

Napa cabbage is one of my favourite vegetables to meal prep, on account of how easy it is to break down and clean. Besides that, the effect of substituting pork for dried shrimp is to simplify the recipe and cleanup even further – no more cutting raw pork on a cutting board, but I still get great meaty, savoury flavours. Dried seafood is like nature’s stock cube.

Usually you want to soak your dried shrimp for a couple hours beforehand to soften them up and extract their wonderful umami. But I make a shortcut here by getting them into the water and simmering along with the ginger right at the start of the recipe, to give them plenty of time under heat while I go prepare the Napa cabbage. It works well enough and minimises prep time, even though the flavour extraction might not be optimal.

I like to call this telescoping your tasks – I’m not sure if there’s a proper term for this, if there is please let me know. But I keep looking for opportunities to do this in meal prep because of the time saving potential it brings.

Back to the soup, I’m not kidding when I said 5 ingredients – I even count salt and water. Just throw everything into a pot and let it simmer while you make the rest of the meal, in this case a breakfast for dinner omelette situation for the lady, and a fajita-marinated chicken breast with rice for me.

Recipes like these are great to have in your back pocket, as a quick and convenient way to include fiber in your meal, as well as a delicious way to hydrate yourself (they’re also wonderful for colds – the ginger works wonders). I think simple soups like this one deserve a place in your repertoire, along with classics like this Chicken and Vegetable Soup by Claudia at Join Your Life.

So, next time you have a substantial protein main course that’s lacking in greens or moisture, consider serving it with a quick vegetable broth like this one.

Posts since the last recipe that was actually served with rice: 0. We’re finally back on track, ladies and gentlemen.

Dramatis Personae

Served two.

Water – 2 cups

Or, roughly however much broth you want to end up with. Keep in mind that the Napa cabbage will let out quite a bit water as it cooks, so err on the side of caution. Get this in a pot and over the heat right at the beginning.

Dried shrimp – 20g

A little goes a long way. No need to break out the big, expensive dried shrimp for this recipe – in fact, the higher surface area to volume ratio of the cheaper, smaller shrimp is an advantage. Give them a quick rinse, and get them into the water ASAP.

Ginger – a few slices

Wash well to obviate the need to peel. Make sure the slices are thin, to get the most flavour out of them in the shortest amount of time. They add a lot to a broth, especially when it’s as simple as this one. 

Baby Napa cabbage – 300g

I use baby Napa just because it’s what was on sale. Adult Napa cabbage works much the same, except you may need to cook it a tiny bit longer. 

If you want to take the extra effort you can reserve the top parts of the leaves and add them in later to preserve some more of their texture. I don’t bother, because I like my vegetables in broth pretty soft.

Salt – to taste

Salt the soup, to taste, right at the end. You can salt it a bit at the beginning to help the seasoning permeate the ingredients, but in between water loss from evaporation and salt going into the veggies you never know how much you need until it’s almost ready.

Besides, the dried shrimp might provide enough flavour on its own that you don’t need salt at all – it’s certainly happened to me before.

Executive summary

1. Put water in a pot and set it over high heat, with the lid on to bring it to boil quicker. 
2. Briefly rinse dried shrimp and get it into the pot. Wash and slice ginger, and add to pot as well.
3. Clean and prepare Napa cabbage in the meantime. Add vegetables to pot once the water boils.
4. Boil on high heat with the lid on for about 10 minutes, or until vegetables have softened to your liking.
5. Salt to taste, and serve piping hot.

Play by Play

Last things first. Cut and wash the ginger slices, give the dried shrimp a quick rinse and get those two things in the water first. The heat is on high, and I leave the lid on to bring it to boil.

Always wash your veggies! I like to cut the cabbage in half along it’s waist then separate the leaves. Once they’re cleaned, they go into the pot. Lid back on to trap the heat.

This is what things looked like about 10 minutes later. The cabbage has wilted, and let out quite a bit of water. The ginger and dried shrimp has also had time to peruse the broth. Here is where I taste and adjust for salt.

Several things were going on in parallel while the soup simmered. Dinner is served!

*sluuuuurp*

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