Growing up in a Cantonese household, we had some kind of bone-broth based soup every night. For hundreds of years before the bone broth craze took over the Western world, Asian countries had been making bone broth-based dishes. And I took it for granted. Now that I am an adult and am in charge of my own meals, I have a deep appreciation for the hours of long simmering that are required to extract the flavors of these soups. Cantonese tofu soup with mustard greens is a repeat dish in my family. It reminds me of Wednesday dinners at my dad’s house, with screaming nieces and nephews bouncing up an down.
How to Counteract Bitterness in Mustard Greens
Blanching is very helpful for reducing the bitter flavor that exists in mustard greens. So is simmering mustard greens for a long time after the blanching.
Cantonese tofu soup with mustard greens
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork neck bones
- 3 quarts water
- 1/2 quart chicken broth
- 2 inch piece of ginger thinly sliced
- 1/2 package silken tofu
- 2 cups mustard greens thinly sliced
- 1 salted duck egg coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add in neck bones and allow to boil for 7 minutes until impurities start coming out.
- Then discard the water, clean the bones by rubbing off impurities. Then fill your pot with 4 quarts of water, 1/2 quart of chicken broth, sliced ginger, salted duck egg, and the cleaned pork bones. Bring to a boil on high heat, then allow to simmer on medium low heat for 2.5 hrs until pork meat has softened.
- Meanwhile, bring another large pot of water to boil. Blanch mustard greens for 5-7 minutes. Then remove mustard greens from the water and set aside. Discard the water.
- After 2.5 hours of pork bones simmering, add in 1 tbsp of fish sauce, 1 tsp salt, the blanched mustard greens, and silken tofu. Allow to simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt to taste. Serve hot.
