Shrimp Ball Soup with Chai Sim

There's so many things I've done this month that it's hard to find time to write anything here. Everything was to be done in a hurry, I was looking at the month through numbers. Certain number means certain things to be done. I'm hoping by the end of this week I could catch my breath and start doing things more leisurely.

Today also marks my son turning nine years old; there's always a joy of remembering how he came to the world after so many years waiting for that moment to come. Following his mom devotion to food, he asked me to bring donuts for his friends today. I was happily obliged, knowing that his friends would be more than happy to gobble up goodies.

Don't you think donuts is one of comfort foods of all time? I'm now getting into the mood of cooking for cooler weather. Soups, braised dishes, generally anything that spells comfort is on my menu for the next few weeks. I'm trying to use what's available in season, which is a sensible and budget-friendly approach. When cooking Asian-style dishes, I try to also use what kind of v egetables available in the Asian market. Some vegetables, like long beans are scarce during fall and winter seasons. One vegetables that stays constant is choy sum or chai sim or chai xin. It's a type of Chinese cabbage that's mild in flavor and is very good in soup.

Both the flavor of the soup and the texture of the shrimp balls are delicate. Don't be alarmed that the soup will be colored light green from the vegetables.

Shrimp Ball Soup with Chai Sim

Serve 4



400 gr small to medium shrimps with shells
100 gr chai sim
Salt

For the shrimp ball mixture:
1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons egg white
2 tablespoons cornstarch



Rinse shrimps several times, peel off the shells, and devein them. Put the shells in a large stockpot and fill with about 6 cups of water. Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes. If you don't want to use shrimp stock, you can use chicken stock of the same amount.

Rinse chai sim and chop roughly to 2-inches long.

Mince the shrimp meat and mix with cooking wine, salt, egg white, and cornstarch. Shape the shrimp mixture into small balls. Put them in a lightly greased dish and steam over high heat for about 5 minutes.

Bring the soup stock to a boil. Add chai sim and salt. Pour soup into a large soup bowl and add shrimp balls to it. Serve immediately.