Island Pantry
Chilly days call for soup — the homemade way

By Kaui Philpotts

Bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, pork and ginger among other ingredients can make the Hot and Sour Soup, which is Chinese in origin. It is pork-based but uses chicken broth. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Chilly weather brings out the cuddly in us all. You want to clean out the refrigerator of all those not-so-good-looking vegetables and the stock you've had sitting in the freezer, then hunker down with the people you love and watch videos.

For many, soup brings back memories of days gone. It could have been grandmother's Portuguese soup filled with ham hocks, sausage and hearty vegetables, or Chinese-style oxtail soup with raw peanuts, or the from-scratch saimin broth with the fresh, crinkly noodles you hardly see these days.

Transplanted Mainlanders tend to say it isn't ever really cold enough here for soup, but we know better.

A good soup needs a good stock. Chicken stock is the most common, but you can begin with a vegetable, beef or fish stock, as well. In a pinch, use the canned, low-sodium variety.

One of the best ways to have homemade stock on hand is to hoard leftover chicken carcasses, turkey bones or beef bones. If you don't have time to deal with making stock at the time, throw them into a zippered plastic bag and into the freezer for some Saturday when you are cleaning out the pantry and refrigerator.

Put the chicken carcass into a soup pot, throw in the carrots and celery and half an onion lying in the crisper, add a bay leaf and some parsley, cover it with water, bring to a boil, skim and simmer, uncovered, for about 2 hours, Cool, skim off fat and strain into freezer containers and refrigerate or freeze.

Another particularly satisfying stock is a rich, deep brown beef one used for Portuguese soup or any beef vegetable combination. The trick here is to oven-roast the bones and meat for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Add vegetables such as onion, carrots and celery along with spices such as peppercorns or cloves and cinnamon sticks and roast them another 30 minutes. Then put the whole wonderful-smelling concoction into a pot with enough water to cover it. Deglaze the roasting pan with a cup of water or white wine, being sure to scrape up all the little bits. Add it to the stockpot and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 2 or 3 hours. Then cool, strain the broth into containers and refrigerate or freeze for use later.

With stock on hand, you can always make a quick soup.

To doctor canned chicken or beef broth, place 1 (10-ounce) can in a pot with 1 stalk celery, 1 carrot, 1 onion, a couple sprigs of parsley, a bay leaf, 1/2 cup white wine and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. You're ready to go.

If you are making an Asian-inspired soup, season with 1 tablespoon shoyu, a piece of peeled ginger, Chinese parsley, dried shrimp (opae), leftover won bok cabbage.

The first two soups I'm sharing today are Chinese in origin. Both Sam Choy's recipe and the Hot and Sour Soup are pork-based but use chicken broth. The Ong Choy and Pork soup takes very little time and can easily be done after work. The Peas, Beans and Barley Soup is entirely vegetarian and filled with beneficial fiber.

This recipe is adapted from "Cooking from the Heart with Sam Choy" (Mutual Publishing).

My Dad's Ong Choy and Pork Soup

• 1/4 lb. lean pork, slivered
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 1 piece ginger, about fl-inch square
• 1/4 cup celery, julienned
• 1/4 cup green onions, julienned
• 1 bunch ong choy, cut into 2-inch sections
• 2 cups shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 cup raw shrimp, small or chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the pork into slivers. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the ginger, pork, celery and green onions. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 10 to 15 minutes. Add ong choy, mushrooms and shrimp and cook about 3 minutes. Adjust seasoning. Serves 6 to 8.

Hot and Sour Soup (Szechuan)

• 2 ounces lean pork, slivered
• 2 tablespoons shoyu
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 slice fresh ginger, peeled, cut to the size of a quarter and smashed
• Pinch of red pepper flakes or 1 small red chile pepper, chopped (to taste)
• 1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and slivered
• 1 cup bamboo shoots, julienned
• 1 block tofu, cut into small cubes
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup shoyu
• Sea salt and pepper to taste
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Marinate the slivered pork with 2 tablespoons shoyu, sugar, ginger, red pepper. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Soak the shiitake mushrooms, squeeze dry and sliver. Cut the bamboo shoots and the tofu into small pieces.

Place the peanut oil in a deep pot and heat. Fry the pork mixture over high heat until just cooked. Add the mushrooms and the bamboo shoots and continue to saute until heated through. Add the tofu, chicken broth, vinegar, shoyu. Simmer for 2 or 3 minutes. Correct seasoning.

Whisk together the cornstarch and eggs. Add to the soup slowly, mixing until the egg flowers and the soup thickens. Serve hot. Serves 6 to 8.

This recipe is from "Maui Cooks Again," a now-classic fund-raising cookbook that I helped with when I lived on Maui.

Peas, Beans and Barley Soup

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup dried green split peas
• 1/4 cup barley
• 2 quarts water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup dried lima beans
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 potato, diced
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon basil, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

In a stock pot, sauce the onion, bay leaf and celery seed in the olive oil until the onion is soft. Stir in the peas and barley. Add water and bring to a boil. Simmer, partially covered, for about 1 1/2 hours. Add salt and pepper, lima beans, chopped vegetables and herbs. Simmer another 35 minutes, adding water as necessary.

Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top and crusty bread. Serves 6.