You want to eat spicy food but also want your body to stay cool and avoid acne? Here is the solution for you. TasteVN will introduce you to 2 ways to cook Japanese watercress soup with minced meat and fresh sweet shrimp that have a good cooling effect. Let’s cook this soup now!
1. Japanese watercress soup with minced meat
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Preparation
10 minutes
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Cooking
15 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Japanese watercress soup with minced meat Serves 3
Watercress 500 gr Lean pork 300 gr Shallots 3 teaspoons (minced) Garlic 3 teaspoons (minced) Cooking oil 2 tablespoons Fish sauce 1 teaspoon Common seasoning a little (Pepper/ sugar/ seasoning powder/ salt/ monosodium glutamate)
How to choose fresh and delicious pork
- Choose pieces of meat that are dry, not slimy, bright red in color, have a characteristic meat smell, and the fibers of the meat should be even.
- Use your hand to press the meat to form a dent but without leaving a mark when you lift your finger; this indicates the meat is firm and has high elasticity, so you should buy it.
- Do not buy meat with yellow fat as this may indicate the pig has a pigmentation disease or the meat comes from a parasite-infected pig.
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How to make Japanese watercress soup with minced meat
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Marinating the meat
Lean pork bought should be washed with water 3 – 4 times and drained. Then, cut into thin slices and finely minced.
Add the minced meat into a small bowl along with 1 part minced garlic and onion, 1/3 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt, then mix well and marinate for 10 – 15 minutes to absorb the spices.
How to remove the smell of pork
- Method 1: Wash the pork thoroughly, place it in a pot with clean water just enough to cover the pork. Put the pot on the stove, boil for 2 – 3 minutes, then take out the meat and rinse it with clean water to effectively remove the smell.
- Method 2: Dissolve salt in water. Then soak the cleaned pork in this solution for 25 – 30 minutes and rinse with clean water and drain.
- Method 3: When preparing the water to blanch the pork, you can add sliced shallots or white wine to the pot and blanch the meat for about 2 – 3 minutes.
See details: Effective ways to remove the smell of pork
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Washing vegetables
Wash the watercress thoroughly, picking only the tender tops and rinsing them well with water before letting them drain.
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Cooking soup
Place a pot on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to the pot. Wait for the oil to heat, then add the remaining garlic and onion to sauté until fragrant.
Next, add the pork and stir-fry evenly until the meat is firm, then gradually pour in 1 liter of water and bring to a boil.
When the water boils, season to taste and then add all the watercress, cooking for another 2 – 3 minutes before turning off the heat.
Tip: To make the soup clearer and more fragrant, you should skim off the foam during the cooking process.
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Final Product
The completed Japanese watercress soup with minced meat has a light sweetness from the pork and watercress. The marinated pork absorbs the spices well, while the watercress is crunchy, delicious, and sweet, cooked just right. Cooking this dish to cool down the body is a worthwhile choice.
2. Japanese Watercress Soup with Fresh Shrimp
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Preparation
10 minutes
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Cooking
15 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Japanese Watercress Soup with Fresh Shrimp Serves 2
Japanese watercress 200 gr Tiger shrimp 150 gr (5 – 7 pieces) Shallots 2 bulbs Garlic 3 cloves Cooking oil 2 tablespoons Common seasoning a little (Salt/ seasoning powder/ monosodium glutamate)
How to choose fresh delicious shrimp
- When choosing shrimp, you should select fresh shrimp with a translucent shell that still has a slight smell of seawater, not a fishy smell, and no slimy residue.
- Fresh shrimp have a slightly curved body, firm flesh but not unusually plump, the shell joints on the shrimp’s body are flexible, not disjointed, the head and body of the shrimp are tightly connected, and the tail is folded, not spread out.
- Additionally, fresh shrimp usually have their legs firmly attached to the body, so if you see the shrimp legs have turned black, you should not buy them.
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How to prepare Japanese watercress soup cooked with fresh shrimp
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Prepare the ingredients
Soak the watercress in diluted salt water for 3 – 5 minutes, then rinse with clean water and let it drain.
Peel the shallots and garlic, then finely chop them.
Remove the head and tail of the shrimp, then peel the shell, after that rinse the shrimp with water, let it drain, and marinate the shrimp with 1/4 teaspoon of salt for 5 minutes.
Quick way to devein shrimp: First, turn the shrimp upside down, hold the head with one hand, and use the other hand to peel the sides of the shrimp head. Then, hold firmly the connection between the head and body of the shrimp, and slowly separate the head from the body. At this point, the shrimp vein attached to the head will also be pulled out.
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Cook the soup
Put a pot on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil into the pot. Wait for the oil to heat up, then add onions and garlic to sauté until fragrant. Next, add the shrimp and stir-fry until the shrimp turns orange-red, then add 500ml of filtered water to the pot and bring to a boil.
Once the water has boiled, skim off the scum, then season the pot with 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Next, add the watercress and cook until the water in the pot boils again, then taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking and turn off the heat.
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Final Product
This soup, when cooked, has a light purple broth that looks very appealing. The vegetables are soft and taste great. The shrimp absorbs the seasoning just right. Eating a bowl of rice and sipping this Japanese watercress soup is incredibly delicious.
How to Choose Fresh and Delicious Japanese Watercress
- Buy the vegetables in the morning and make sure to purchase from reputable suppliers to ensure you get the freshest bunches of watercress.
- It is better to buy loose watercress rather than in bunches, as the center can easily become wilted and rotten if the greens are bundled for too long. Look for bright green leaves that are not bruised or infested with pests.
- You can find this Japanese watercress at Japanese grocery stores or large supermarkets. Prices range from 30,000 – 40,000 VND/kg (price updated on January 3, 2021).
See more
Now you know 2 Japanese watercress soup recipes with minced meat and fresh shrimp – a soup that can cool your body when eating spicy and hot foods. Quickly jot down the recipe in your notebook. Wishing you success in making it!
*Refer to images and recipes from YouTube channels: Ngọc Kitchen and saigonfamily Vlogs
