Watercress In A Chinese Soup
I developed a love for herbal soup when I worked in Keningau and there was one restaurant which always serves bowls of ready-to-eat "tun tang".
This was where I learn of ginseng soup, peanut soup and watercress soup.
Back in Sabah, as far as I know, watercress seems to be considered a low rank vegetable, not the kind you'd find at supermarkets. My mother used to get ours from those roadside stalls in Tambunan or sometimes Kundasang and I've grown up eating this vegetable cooked in soup and stir fried - the Kadazandusun way.
The funny thing is, my Kadazan family calls this "Sayur Hong Kong" or "Tan Choi", names which my Chinese family found strange. In fact, my mother in law refers to it, to me, as "watercress" and until today, I don't know its actual Chinese name!
But names aside, I get my stock from Supa Save which offers imported watercress, definitely not like those found on the Tambunan roadside.
And from my mother in law, I learn the proper way to cook this soup to get maximum taste and nutrients.
The taste actually comes from stalks so this is the part to slow cook with meat (either pork ribs or chicken) and dried red dates or Chinese wolfberries (salt to taste) for a few hours.
When its ready to be eaten, remove the stalks and put the watercress leaves for only few minutes (to retain its nutrients) and serve the soup!
This is a "cooling" soup so it's perfect after a hot day.
If you have never eaten this vegetable, read its nutritional values or try this detox recipe and keep a look out for restaurants or food stalls which offers this soup.
I'm sure you'll love it too.
This was where I learn of ginseng soup, peanut soup and watercress soup.
Back in Sabah, as far as I know, watercress seems to be considered a low rank vegetable, not the kind you'd find at supermarkets. My mother used to get ours from those roadside stalls in Tambunan or sometimes Kundasang and I've grown up eating this vegetable cooked in soup and stir fried - the Kadazandusun way.
The funny thing is, my Kadazan family calls this "Sayur Hong Kong" or "Tan Choi", names which my Chinese family found strange. In fact, my mother in law refers to it, to me, as "watercress" and until today, I don't know its actual Chinese name!
But names aside, I get my stock from Supa Save which offers imported watercress, definitely not like those found on the Tambunan roadside.And from my mother in law, I learn the proper way to cook this soup to get maximum taste and nutrients.
The taste actually comes from stalks so this is the part to slow cook with meat (either pork ribs or chicken) and dried red dates or Chinese wolfberries (salt to taste) for a few hours.
When its ready to be eaten, remove the stalks and put the watercress leaves for only few minutes (to retain its nutrients) and serve the soup!
This is a "cooling" soup so it's perfect after a hot day.
If you have never eaten this vegetable, read its nutritional values or try this detox recipe and keep a look out for restaurants or food stalls which offers this soup.
I'm sure you'll love it too.
