Seaweed Soup Recipe - My Savior Food

Growing up as an Asian, my Mom had taught me to eat rice 3 times a day; once for breakfast, then lunch and lastly dinner. There would always be rice on our dining table. But most of the time, I found myself enjoying it the most while eating it along with any soup or broth. On the other hand, I have married someone who almost never eats soup. My husband much prefers anything that is potato-based (wedges, chips, waffles or hash browns) and roasted chicken (totally plain with no added seasoning).

The characteristic of Indonesian’s cuisine itself is heavily seasoned and marinated cooking, balanced with the plain and fluffy rice, blended into one in your mouth. That is how we Indonesians enjoy our cuisine. You can eat the meal itself without rice if you want to try, but you will probably be overwhelmed by the taste, hence, there is rice for balancing this.

I have been living in the UK for almost 6 months now. Before I moved to the UK, I thought it would be hard to find the proper rice that I am familiar with. My husband had bought me basmati rice before we moved to our own place (as my husband lived with his parents until I moved to the UK). This would be the first time that I have tried basmati rice, and I totally fell in love with it.

Since then, I have never eaten without rice. I also live in a small town where there are many other Asians living here too. Because of this, you can find a lot of Asian markets around here. Funnily enough, when I was living all by myself in Jakarta, Indonesia, for 8 years, I had never cooked my own meal, I have always had them delivered. But here, in the UK, I have forced myself to learn how to cook, and thanks to the internet I could find so many recipes that I could try with the limited ingredients and seasonings that I have here.

For these past 6 months, I have been learning to cook and improvise it myself with the ingredients I can get. I have found seaweed soup to be the easiest and the simplest to cook, and yet it is very refreshing and touches my soul every time I eat it with the rice, such the perfect combination. I have been missing Indonesian food for these months, but just by eating the seaweed soup along with the rice, it makes my heart full again.

Here is the recipe, which serves 3-4 people.

Ingredients:

250g minced beef (you can use any meat; chicken, pork, beef is more my own preference)

10-15g dried seaweed (which is roughly just over a handful)

2 eggs

5 cloves of garlic

Sesame oil

10g chicken stock (I usually use the Maggy brand cubes)

Salt & Pepper to taste

STEPS:

1. Place the dried seaweed into a bowl and add water until the dried seaweed has completely submerged. Let this soak for at least 2 hours.

2. When the seaweed has become flexible, remove from the bowl and cut it into bite sized pieces to make it easy to eat. The excess water and bowl is no longer needed.

3. Chop/ slice the garlic finely.

4. Place a pan on the stove and pour 2-3 tablespoons of sesame oil into it and set it to medium - hot. Once sizzling, add the garlic and stir continuously until it becomes fragrant.

5. Add the minced beef and keep stirring until it has cooked.

6. Add the seaweed into the pan, and stir for another 2–3 minutes.

7. Add enough water to the pan until all the ingredients are submerged.

8. Add the chicken stock and stir until the stock has dissolved.

9. Place a lid on the pan and let it sit until it boils.

10. When it boils, add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil.

11. Crack the eggs and slowly add it to the soup whilst stirring so it disperses in the soup.

12. Taste the broth and add salt and pepper to your own preference.

13. Serve with a bowl of fluffy and delicious rice!

Besides the refreshing taste of it, seaweed soup is also used by many Asians as a cure for hangovers and said to help with the recovery of new mothers after labor. Also, seaweed is rich in minerals like calcium, iron, iodine and phosphorus which are indeed considered to be important during pregnancy and lactation.

I do hope that you will try my recipe and enjoy the seaweed soup as much as I have. You probably will enjoy it the most during the rainy days, the warmness from the broth just perfect match with the cold weather.

Thank you so much for reading. ~Kyan