Tag: fall

Hot and sour burdock soup

Spring is here! In the Midwest, one of the first edible foods in nature is Burdock root. A great way to include burdock in your diet is to make a soup with the roots. Asian cooks rave about their burdock soups that they make in the spring. I’m presenting a delicious burdock root soup here that is inspired by Rosaleedela Foret’sblog. There is really nothing exotic about this soup, all the ingredients can be found here in the US.

We tend to eat heavier foods during the winter months but our body is ready to embark on something lighter and easier to digest. As we transition from the winter into spring, it is important to pay attention to our Liver. Heavy foods consumed during the winter might be burdening our livers that can lead to some health problems in the spring, like fevers and tiredness.Our body tends to cleanse itself naturally as we eat less in the spring. In addition, it is nice to add some bitter plants that aids the liver to accomplish this process. Our ancestors ate a lot of bitters in the spring. One of these spring bitters is burdock.

The burdock’s earthy, heavier flavor pairs nicely with the carrot’s sweet and light flavor. In addition to the bitter flavor, the liver also needs the sour flavor for support. It gets the sour flavor from this sour dish as well. This soup is a big favorite in our family, yes even the kids like it. Perhaps, it is because of its interesting, well balanced flavors. In fact, it has all five flavors: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and pungent!

The main ingredient in this recipe is burdock root. If you are familiar with burdock, you can harvest it yourself. Otherwise, it might be difficult to get at the stores. If you don’t have it in your backyard, it is available at farmers’ markets, health food stores or also from Harmony Valley in Veroqua, WI.

Instructions for boiling the eggs

Make sure the eggs are at room temperature. Eggs straight out of the fridge need to warm up otherwise the cooking time needs to be changed.. You might have to experiment with the exact cooking time as there are many variables that can effect it. It should be somewhere between 7 and a half and 8 minutes for 1 egg and more for additional eggs. The eggs should be semi-hard on the outside and be ‘semi-runny’ in the middle.

RECIPE

4 servings

INGREDIENTS
  • 10 cup stock (vegetable or chicken, pork).
  • 1 cup burdock root, cut into match stick pieces
  • 2 cup carrots, peeled and cut into match stick pieces
  • 2 clove of garlic, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp of ginger, minced
  • 2 handfuls of mushrooms (like shiitake)
  • 3 Tbsp cornstarch mixed + 4 Tbsp of water
  • 4 Tbsp of rice or white vinegar
  • 2 lightly beaten egg yolks
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 bunch scallions, chopped
  • salt to taste
  • soy sauce
  • 4 hard boiled eggs
  • hot red pepper or sriracha sauce (optional)
  • 1 pkg ramen noodles (I used HakuBaku Organic Ramen )

METHODS

  1. Bring stock to a boil.
  2. Add carrots, burdock roots, mushrooms, crushed garlic and ginger. After it boils, turn it down to low medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes covered.
  3. In a smaller bowl mix vinegar, the cornstarch and water. Add it to the soup and continue to simmer while stirring until the mixture is thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes.
  4. Turn off the heat and stir egg yolk in gently. Add sesame oil, salt and hot red pepper. Mix.
  5. Make hard boiled eggs. Make sure the eggs are at room temperature. Bring some water in a pot to a boil. Add the 4 eggs at room temperature. Boil them for 8 minutes. Take them out and put them into cold water. Peel the shells.
  6. Cooking the ramen noodles. In a medium sized pot, bring cold water to a boil and cook the noodles. according to its cooking instructions. Strain and discard water.
  7. Serve in a deep bowl. Add ramen noodles and eggs. Garnish with scallions and add soy sauce to taste.

Enjoy!

Sources:

Text and photo by Twincitiesherbs.

Traditional Hungarian stuffed cabbage (töltött káposzta)

I don’t think it is an accident that stuffed cabbage is a Christmas dish.  You can surely serve it any time but it is the perfect dish for the holidays.

I smile every time I remember my daughter’s reaction. She was three years old when she saw stuffed cabbage on the Christmas table and screamed ‘YUCKY’.  However, after she tried it, she realized how delicious it was. Ever since then, she makes sure that it is on the Christmas menu every year.

Stuffed cabbage is a popular winter dish in Hungary even though our ancestors didn’t make it. It is a dish that was inspired by the Turks. They called it szárma from the Turkish word sarma. However, many of us today can’t imagine Christmas without it. My mom made it every year. 

I don’t think it is an accident that stuffed cabbage is a Christmas dish.  You can surely serve it any time of the year but it is the perfect dish for the holidays.  In the old days, families butchered their pigs and the meat was ready to be used by around this time. Also, there weren’t too many vegetables available except for a few like cabbages and onions. Not to mention that the dish can be kept in the cold for a couple of days. In fact, it tastes the best after a few days. This was an important consideration too. Christmas went on for days back in the old times. According to traditional customs, people were not allowed to work during the celebrations.

The recipe is not too difficult, though it is time-consuming. Just remember you won’t have to cook for 3 days afterwards! There are many variations of this recipe but this is how I make it. Please feel free to experiment with it.

What you need

Meat stock:
  • 1 -2 lb of beef bones (ox tail and beef bone)
  • 2-3 Tbsp of black pepper corn. I like to add a lot of peppercorns because they give a really nice flavor to the dish.
  • water
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 3 carrots
  • 2 parsnips
  • 1 large onions
  • few cloves of garlic
  • 2 celery stalk or 1 medium sized celery root
For the cabbage rolls:
  • high quality oil (lard, sunflower seed oil)
  • 1 1/4 lb of ground pork (can be half beef)
  • oil
  • 1 larger onion, chopped
  • 2 slices of bacon, sliced (optional)
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 lb of sauerkraut, drained, divided
  • few strings fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 cup of uncooked rice, cleaned
  • 1 cup of cold water to cook the rice in
  • 1-2 heads of large Savoy cabbage or green cabbage or sour cabbage leaves (about 18 – 20 leaves)
  • marjoram
  • 2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika (make sure it is authentic)
  • 1 egg
  • sour cream
  • freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
  • Hot pepper flakes or Erös Pista to taste
  • smoked meat like kielbasa, sausages (optional)
Preparation
twincitiesherbs.com

Meat stuffing

the cabbage roll

 

Meat stock.

Place the onion, beef bones, pepper corns, garlic, carrots, parsnips, bay leaves , celery in a large pot. Add enough water to cover everything. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and slowly cook for 2- 4 hours covered. Set aside. (Omit if you already have it).

Making the dish.

Preparing the base of the dish. Sauté the onion in oil on medium high heat for 10 minutes or until translucent. Add bacon if you desire and cook for 5 more minute or until the bacon looks crisp. Add paprika, stir for 1 minute. Add a little cold liquid (have it ready) and stir. Add 1 lb of the sour kraut. Mix. Set aside.

Preparing the cabbage leaves. Fill a larger pot with cold water and start boiling it. This will be used to soften the leaves. Take the leaves off the cabbage gently one by one. When the water boils, add the leaves in the boiling water one at a time for a few minutes. Here we are parboiling the cabbage leaves so make sure they get semi soft but not mushy. (Omit if you have sour cabbage leaves). 

Preparing the rice. Bring 1 cup of rice in 1 cup of cold water to a boil. Turn the heat down to low heat and cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Preparing the stuffing. In a medium sized dish, mix the cooked rice from earlier, crushed garlic cloves, marjoram, 1 egg and the meat together. Set aside.

Assembling the stuffed cabbages. Fill the cabbage leaves in the middle with about 1 heaping tablespoon of stuffing or more if leaf is bigger and fold them on all four sides so the stuffing is tucked inside the leaves nicely. Be careful you don’t fold them too tight because the mixture will expand a little. You can close the leaves with a toothpick if you want but it is really not necessary.  This may sound like a difficult task but really what you do here is you tuck the filling inside the leaves and fold each side onto the stuffing so it is nested inside the leaves. Please, see the pictures for clarification above.

Place the assembled cabbages on top of the prepared sour kraut mixture from earlier one by one, fitting each leaf snug next to each other. Place the remaining 1 lb sour-kraut on top of the stuffed cabbages. 

Pour the meat stock over the stuffed cabbage leaves. Make sure the liquid covers everything in the pot. Bring to a boil and turn the heat down. Cook on very low heat slowly covered for 1 ½-2  hours or until the cabbage and the stuffing are cooked.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the stuffed cabbages on top of the sauerkraut along with sour cream, sliced kielbasa and hot red pepper flakes or Erös paprika.

Merry Christmas! Enjoy!  Jó étvágyat!

Text, photos, recipe by twincitiesherbs.