RecipeMuncher

My boy is a sucker for soup. He loves nilaga, sinigang, and tom yum soup; even soupy adobo. He would pour it all over his rice and eat with gusto. And I’m a sucker for saving scraps. What I buy, I cook; I hate buying ingredients and not using at all. [...]

I have always admired the way how Japanese harmonises their food intake into their body.  When the weather is cold, eat something hot. When it is hot, eat something cold to counter balance off the heat in the body.  It is pretty much the chinese way of eating too, to balance off the yin-yang in the body to the extend of drinking certain soup or tonic for that

This is the stock I use when making most of my soups & it is also great for risotto. This recipe makes 3 litres, if you are not going to use the stock immediately, freeze it. Vegetable stocks lose their flavour quickly.

• 400 grams leeks, coarsely chopped.
• 400 grams carrots, coarsely chopped.
• 400 grams onion, coarsely chopped.
• 1 fennel bulb, coarsely chopped.
• 150 grams button mushrooms, chopped.
• 1 bay leaf.
• 3 sprigs thyme.
• 3 litres of water.
• 50 mls vegetable oil.

1. Sweat the vegetables in the vegetable oil in a stockpot over low heat until vegetables have softened.
2. Add bay leaf & thyme sprigs, then cover with the water.
3. Bring to a gentle simmer, then simmer for 45 minutes.
4. Strain the stock. Use immediately or freeze.