Chinese mustard greens soup

Chinese mustard greens are delicious, and they make an excellent, light and easy soup. The longer you cook the greens, the sweeter the soup becomes. So take your time with this one!

Remember to wash your mustard greens thoroughly. There is often dirt caught between the stems, and mustard greens easily catch insects when they are being grown as plants. But don't let this scare you away! Just clean and wash well.

What I do is I chop off the mustard green stems and add them to the soup earlier, so it gets more time to cook. I throw in the leaves later, before I turn off the stove heat. Chunks of chicken thighs go best, and if you have dried Chinese mushrooms, that's even better. Below are two versions of Chinese mustard greens soup. A simpler version, and my version that has slightly a bit more ingredients, but makes the traditional soup more dynamic.

Simple version of Chinese mustard greens soup:

Ingredients:

4 cups low-sodium chicken stock

1/3 pound of chicken thigh, boneless, skinless, cut into chunks

1 tablespoon sliced ginger root

2 cups sliced mushrooms

4 cups sliced mustard greens

salt

white pepper

Preparation:

* tip: you can blanch the chicken first, if you like, and set the chicken aside. If you leave the chicken in the soup too long, it could become too dry.

Heat chicken stock in a pot and add sliced ginger. Bring to a boil, stir in sliced mushrooms. Next, throw in the stems of the mustard greens. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the stems are soft. Add in the already blanched chicken, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a couple more minutes, and then add the mustard green leaves. Cook for around 5 - 7 minutes and turn off heat.

My version of Chinese mustard greens soup:

Ingredients:

4 cup of low sodium chicken stock

5 dried scallops

1/3 pound of chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into chunks

1/2 Daikon, cut into chunks

1tablespoon sliced ginger

2 cups of mushrooms, sliced ( best to use Chinese dried mushrooms)

4 cups sliced mustard greens

salt

white pepper

Preparation:

Soak the scallops in water for 15 - 20 minutes. Heat chicken stock in a pot using medium heat, and when it comes to a small boil, add scallops by using your hands to break them apart. When the stock has boiled, add in daikon, ginger slices, sliced mushrooms, and mustard green stems, for about 30 minutes or until the daikon is soft. Next, add already blanched chicken chunks, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the mustard leaves, cook for 5 - 7 minutes. Salt and pepper to season, if needed

Enjoy!