Christina's Cookbook by Christina Orchid

Author:Christina Orchid
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sasquatch Books
Published: 2011-05-10T16:00:00+00:00

Hot and Sour Fish Soup

The first time I made this soup, I created it solely from taste. I had had a bowl at a Vietnamese restaurant. At that time, Vietnamese places were new and rare. I had never seen any Vietnamese or Chinese recipes or cookbooks, though I suppose they were out there. I just loved the flavor so much I wanted to taste it again. I knew the base was chicken stock, and obviously there was vinegar and ginger. I used lime zest and lemon mint tea, trying to get that bright underlayment of flavor. It worked out okay, but after I discovered the Welcome Vietnamese Grocery my cooking changed forever. I just loved that little store, with its strange smells and scary bins of dried things. I would roam the narrow aisles with my cart for hours, reading labels or admiring the artwork on them, sniffing, squeezing. There, on my own, in the aisles of Welcome Grocery, I discovered pickled ginger, arame, fresh and dried lemon grass, galangal, fresh litchis, baby octopus, fermented black beans, rice wine vinegar, cane vinegar. I was fascinated by the different piles of noodles. The packages were often inscrutable, giving only the barest description of the contents. I loved the labels and was fascinated by how the things inside might be used. My recreation was blowing five dollars on interesting ingredients, then taking them home to play with. This exploration was all long before I became a professional chef. I was young and hungry for life, and for soup!

½ package (6 ounces) small wonton wrappers

3 green onions

1 bunch spinach, well washed, stems removed

4 cups chicken or fish stock

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons peeled, grated ginger

4 lime leaves

2 tablespoons nuoc mam (fish sauce)

1 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon crushed dried red chiles

1 to 2 cups large chunks cooked Dungeness crabmeat, rock fish, or halibut

1 carrot, julienned

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mint sprigs for garnish

Cilantro sprigs for garnish

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