Chicken Ham Choy Soup

I always think soup is the easiest thing to make; just put everything in the pot and let it simmer... Though I remember Ah Po put a lot of attention to soups. I used to hear her say that soup is good and flavorful when there is sufficient "fire" (meaning slowly boiled over heat... something like that). I always like Ah Po's ham choy (salted Chinese cabbage) soup.


On this cold, winter night, I figured soup would be comforting and so decided to make ham choy soup. The ingredients were easily obtained here and the preparation was simple, per the cookbook. As the ham choy's smell lingered the air, I realized something is missing and instantly knew it. Ah Po always throw in dried mussels in her ham choy soup. And to think of it, her version might have used duck, instead of chicken, for more aroma and flavor.


My ham choy soup did turn out well, though on a slightly sweeter taste than I had wished for or used to. Either I had some really sweet carrots, or I'm just missing the dried mussels.


Mom, you wanna send me some dried mussels?  :)

PS: As I'm typing out the recipe, I realized that I have completely forgotten about the chicken cube and soy sauce (no wonder it's not salty enough for my taste). Funny thing is, as I was serving the soup, I said to myself "Ah Po put soy sauce in everything, haha... and I didn't use it for the soup!" Shame on me this time...




Chicken Ham Choy Soup
300 g salted Chinese cabbage (ham choy)
1.3 kg chicken, clean and remove fat, cut into 8 portions
2 tomatoes, cut into quarters
2 large Bombay onions, cut into 6 parts
1 carrot, cut anyway you wish
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 pc soft tofu, cut into 12 parts
1 pc chicken cube
4 tblsp light soy sauce
pinch of salt and sugar
3 L water, first boil
1 L boiled water, additional boil


Wash ham choy, peel off each leaf and cut into 3 - 4 sections.
Put all the ingredients, except tofu and tomatoes, into a pot with 3 L of water and bring to boil. Then, simmer for 2 hours and 30 minutes or until water is reduced to half its original amount.
Add the extra 1 L of water, tomatoes and tofu, and boil for another 45 minutes.
Add a pinch of sugar and salt (and MSG, if you want) to taste. Serve hot.