Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Chye Sim (Cai Xin) Soup

I can't seem to find a decent recipe on Cai Xin Soup online. I couldn't find any either, on recipe books. I wonder why? It's such a popular soup in Tze Char stalls and a tasty one at that.

Nevertheless, I made an attempt using the 'cheater bug' method. I used an ikan bilis stock cube (that no-msg brand) as the soup base. It was not too bad, but not as flavourful as those in the Tze Char stalls.

Any better recipes to share, anyone?



Ingredients

  • Chye sim
  • Small corns
  • Carrot
  • Minced pork

Seasonings

  • 1 Ikan bilis
  • 1 tbsp cooking wine
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • salt to taste

Method

1) Add ikan bilis cube to boiling water
2) Add all ingredients except chye sim
3) Add chye sim about 1 minute before switching off the fire
4) Add cooking wine, sugar and salt

8 comments:

Rae said...

Hi, there. I'm not so sure how it should taste like as those you have tried in Tze Char stalls. I believe it's because of the soup base. It tastes a little bit too plain in your case, isn't it? I think probably they use a few type of meats or bones for the soup. Anyway, here is what I would add in the soup:
sesame oil, garlic oil and soy sauce.

Food Lover said...

Hi Saoirse, I didn't know that meat/bones should be used for the soup base for vegetable soup as well. Maybe should try that one day...

I didn't add soy sauce (as I did with other soup) because I didn't want the colour to go 'off'. The caixin soup I see are usually not so dark in colour.

Hmm... Garlic oil... that's something new to me. Will try that out. Thanks for the tip! :)

Rae said...

Hi FoodLover, I'm not quite sure as I've never tried before, so I'm just making a guess that based on the ingredients you put, it could be taste a bit plain. :p I'm not sure haha...

By the way, I've bought myself a recipe book with all the hawker stall dishes. Can't wait to try out some during weekends and share with you. :)

Food Lover said...

hahah no worries, thanks for sharing your views! :)

Looking forward to your recipe sharing this weekend! :D

Anonymous said...

Hi, I fry the ginger and dried ikan bilis together first, before adding water. Then i add the stalks and fishballs (the latter gives it its saltiness). Lastly i had the leaves. I do agree that a very small measure of oil is needed.

Food Lover said...

Hey Budgie, thanks for sharing! I shall try that out the next time. :)

petite nyonya said...

i really like this as i made it quite often too, esp when i feel like having a clean, clear & fuss free soup. except that i have never tried adding in the wine before.

Food Lover said...

Hey Nyonya, thanks for dropping by. Yeah... the addition of wine was to imitate those tze char stalls. Try it!