Try out 2 delicious soup dishes that are fragrant, refreshing, and extremely easy to make from cabbage to change your family’s daily menu. Let’s get cooking with TasteVN and showcase your skills in making these 2 enticing sour cabbage soups!
1. Sour Green Cabbage Soup
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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Sour Green Cabbage Soup Serves 4
Green cabbage 1/2 piece Silken tofu 100 gr Enoki mushrooms 40 gr Oyster mushrooms 40 gr Tomatoes 3 pieces Tamarind 20 gr Vegetarian sausage 2 pieces Vietnamese coriander 4 stems Saw tooth herb 1 sprig Chili pepper 1 piece Spring onion 1 stalk Rice washing water a little Cooking oil 4 tablespoons Common seasoning a little (sugar/salt/MSG/seasoning powder)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh green cabbage
- You should choose cabbages that are round, have a slightly dark green color, feel a bit heavy and firm when held, as these are the good ones.
- Avoid buying cabbages that are flat or oval as these are likely to be spongy and not firm.
- Do not buy cabbages that are pale white as they may be old, tough, fibrous, and not tasty.
- Steer clear of cabbages with damaged outer leaves or that have turned yellow.
See details:
How to choose fresh enoki mushrooms
- You should choose bundles of mushrooms that still have intact stems, with the stems being fresh and firm; avoid bundles with broken or mushy stems.
- Mushrooms should have a cap that is firmly attached to the stem, bright in color, feel firm when held, and should not be slimy or soft.
- Avoid selecting mushrooms that have a foul or unpleasant odor when sniffed.
How to choose good chicken leg mushrooms
- You should choose fresh chicken leg mushrooms that are 12 – 15cm long. If they are longer, they will be hollow, not fresh, and less sweet.
- Fresh mushrooms will have a very distinctive aroma similar to almonds, with caps that are brown, shiny, free of scratches, bruises, or wrinkles, and have a thin layer of fibers on top of the cap.
- Avoid buying mushrooms that have a foul smell, are bruised, soft stems, or uneven coloring.
See details: How to choose delicious, quality mushrooms
How to prepare Sour Cabbage Soup
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Prepare the cabbage
When buying cabbage, remove any old leaves (if any), then remove the core, and use a knife to cut the cabbage into bite-sized strips. Soak in salted water for about 15 minutes, then rinse thoroughly with water and drain.
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Prepare other ingredients
Wash the soft tofu and then cut it into round slices about the thickness of a large finger. Rinse the vegetarian sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces about 1/2 finger thick.
Remove the stems from the oyster mushrooms and enoki mushrooms, soak them in rice water for about 15 minutes, then take them out and rinse thoroughly with water.
For the larger oyster mushrooms, tear them in half or into thirds. Tear the enoki mushrooms into small strands.
Wash the tomatoes, cut them into wedges, chop the cilantro and sawtooth coriander. Wash the green onion and chop it finely. Slice the chili into small rings.
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Frying the cake
Place a pan on the stove, add 3 tablespoons of cooking oil and heat it, then add the vegetarian cake and fry over medium heat until both sides are golden, then remove and drain the oil.
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Sautéing the ingredients
Place a pot on the stove, add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and heat it, then add the chopped green onions and sauté until fragrant.
Next, add the oyster mushrooms and tomatoes and sauté over medium heat for about 3 minutes until the ingredients are just cooked. Then add 1/2 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning powder to the pot and mix well for the ingredients to absorb the seasoning.
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Cooking soup
Add 1 – 2 liters of filtered water into the pot with the sautéed mushrooms and tomatoes, then bring to a boil.
When the water starts to boil, scoop out 4 tablespoons and put them in a bowl along with the sour tamarind, stir well and strain to get the sauce. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar into the bowl of tamarind juice and stir well.
Pour the mixed tamarind juice into the soup pot, stir well, and adjust the seasoning to taste.
Next, add the enoki mushrooms and cabbage, and continue to cook until the soup boils again, then add the tofu and fried vegetarian sausage and turn off the heat.
Finally, add the coriander and cilantro to complete.
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Finished product
Serve the sour cabbage soup in a bowl, add some fried garlic and ground pepper, and enjoy!
The soup is well-seasoned, with a balanced sweet and sour taste, the cabbage retains its crisp sweetness, the fried sausage is chewy, and the tomatoes and mushrooms are cooked just right, keeping their flavors intact. The dish will taste even better when served with hot rice!
2. Sour Purple Cabbage Soup
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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Sour Purple Cabbage Soup Serves 4 people
Purple cabbage 200 gr Shrimp 150 gr Pineapple 1/4 fruit (fresh) Tomato 1 fruit Cilantro 1 sprig Vietnamese coriander 2 sprigs Hot pepper 1 fruit Shallot 2 bulbs Fried garlic oil 2 tablespoons Tamarind juice 1/2 cup (rice bowl size) Cooking oil 2 tablespoons Fish sauce 1 tablespoon Vinegar 1 tablespoon Common seasoning a little (sugar/salt/MSG)
How to choose fresh ingredients
- You should choose purple cabbage that feels firm in hand, tightly rolled leaves, small stem without cracks, and not discolored brown.
- Choose heads with dark purple leaves, crisp and firm leaves, still fresh, without yellow leaves or brown spots.
- Do not choose heads that are bruised, showing signs of slime, or with eaten leaves.
See details: How to choose good purple cabbage
How to choose fresh, delicious pineapples
- Choose pineapples that are bright yellow from the crown to the tail; they may have a few slightly green eyes, indicating they are ripe and will be sweet and tasty. Round, short pineapples will have more flesh than long ones.
- Choose pineapples with large, sparse eyes, as this indicates that the pineapple is mature and ripened naturally, without chemical treatment.
- You can try smelling the end of the fruit; if it has a fragrant scent, you should buy it. Additionally, avoid those with a slightly sour, fermented smell, as those pineapples are overripe.
- The greener the crown of the pineapple, the fresher it is. Overripe pineapples will have a dry or brown crown.
- Choose fresh, delicious pineapples that are neither too hard nor too soft; when you press your finger into them, they should not feel indented.
See details: How to choose pineapples properly
How to choose fresh, delicious shrimp
- Choose shrimp that have natural, even colors and no strange odors.
- The tails of the shrimp should be slightly curled, and they should feel firm to the touch. If the tails are curled and soft, those shrimp are spoiled and should not be purchased.
- Avoid buying shrimp with overly taut backs, as the back segments may be expanded; these shrimp may have been chemically treated and are unsafe.
How to make Sour Purple Cabbage Soup
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Prepare the shrimp
To remove mud and the fishy smell from the shrimp, after purchasing, add 1/2 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of vinegar, shake well for about 2 minutes, then rinse several times with cold water and drain.
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Prepare other ingredients
When you buy cabbage, cut off the core and any yellow, damaged leaves (if any). Then soak it in diluted salt water for 5 – 10 minutes, rinse with cold water until clean, drain, and then cut into small pieces about 1 – 2 finger lengths.
For pineapple, you can buy a whole pineapple and peel it, removing the eyes, or you can buy one that is already peeled at the market or food stores.
Cut the pineapple into bite-sized pieces and remove the core to make the pineapple softer when cooked.
The simplest way to peel pineapple
- First, cut the pineapple vertically from top to bottom into 4 equal parts.
- Then cut along the length of each piece of pineapple, stopping at the end and cutting firmly to separate the flesh from the skin.
- Do not cut too close to the skin to avoid leaving any eyes. Finally, cut into smaller pieces as needed.
See details: 5 simple ways to peel pineapple quickly and easily
Wash tomatoes several times with water, drain, then cut into wedges. Peel the shallots and slice them thinly.
Coriander and cilantro should have their roots trimmed, washed clean, and then cut into short pieces. Slice the chili.
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Sauté the ingredients
Place a pot on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and heat it, then add the shallots to sauté until fragrant.
When the shallots are aromatic, add the shrimp and sauté over medium heat for about 3 – 5 minutes until the shrimp is just cooked.
Tip: Sautéing shrimp with fried shallots helps eliminate the fishy smell of shrimp and makes the dish more delicious.
Next, add the tomatoes and pineapples, stir well until the tomatoes release their juice and turn a beautiful yellow color.
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Cook the soup
Next, add about 2 liters of water to the pot. Add 1/2 cup of tamarind juice, 3.5 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1.5 tablespoons of monosodium glutamate, and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, then stir well and bring to a boil.
When the water starts to boil, add the purple cabbage, continue cooking until the water boils again and the cabbage is cooked evenly.
Tip: Adding cabbage in the final stage helps keep the cabbage crisp and sweet.
Finally, add the coriander, sawtooth coriander, and fried garlic oil, then season to taste to complete the dish.
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Finished Product
Sour purple cabbage soup cooked with shrimp is a dish that is rich in both flavor and color. The shrimp meat is crunchy, the cabbage is crisp and sweet, combined with the sour and sweet broth that is rich and stimulating to the taste buds.
This dish is excellent with white rice accompanied by a bowl of chili fish sauce. Let’s enjoy it right away!
How to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes
- You should choose tomatoes that have a bright red outer skin, evenly colored. The outer skin should be intact, without scratches, and plump, indicating fresh and delicious tomatoes.
- Naturally ripened tomatoes often have a light fragrance, which can be easily detected when sniffed.
- When buying, you can gently pull to see if the stem comes off easily; you should choose tomatoes that still have the stem attached, and the stem should still be fresh and not wilted.
- Avoid selecting tomatoes that are bruised, have scratched skins, holes, missing stems, or stems that are no longer fresh.
See details: How to choose fresh tomatoes
Above is an article guiding 2 ways to cook sour cabbage soup that is delicious, refreshing, simple, and easy to make at home, extremely straightforward and accessible for everyone. Wishing you success with this recipe!
*Images and recipes referenced from the YouTube channel My Huynh Channel and Delicious Dishes Every Day
