Chinese Spinach Soup

The Swallow loves to cook but this skill did not come easily. Along the way, there were many disasters but these only proved to be stepping stones to a skill that has kept her family fed on a reasonable budget with some extra goodies thrown in occasionally.

Chinese Spinach Soup was one of the few dishes she had cooked on her own at the start of her journey with the kitchen, born out of disaster. Each time this dish is cooked, it brings her down memory lane. Now, the recipe has been fine-tuned to meet her young ones' need for meat.

CHINESE SPINACH SOUP (serves 4)

Ingredients

• 400g baby Chinese Spinach
• 270g pork mince (optional)
• 1 tsp light soya sauce

  

  Chinese Spinach Soup

• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 slices old ginger
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1.5L hot water
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Cut off the roots from the Chinese spinach. Rinse the Chinese spinach clean. Drain.
2. Marinate the pork mince with light soya sauce, cornflour, pepper, sugar and sesame oil. Form the meat mixture into 16 small meatballs. Set them aside.
3. In a wok, heat oil on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, and stir-fry till they are lightly browned.
4. Add the Chinese spinach and stir-fry till they are limp.
5. Add the hot water and bring the mixture to a boil for 15 minutes. Lower the heat and simmer the soup for 30 minutes.
6. Add the meatballs and simmer for another 8 minutes.
7. Season the soup with salt. Serve hot.

Notes

• Chinese spinach is high in iron and this soup is a good choice to alleviate constipation.
• This soup can be served as a light one-dish dinner for two.
• This recipe can be handled by children with some adult supervision.