Soup Of The Sea

It was a love at first sight. The smell, the breeze, the sand, the never-ending placid, everything was so mesmerizing.

My mother recently sent me a seaweed soup recipe so incredible it made us feel like picnic by the sea. It was refreshing, warm, sultry, healthy and comforting, made with seaweed, fish balls, mushroom and dried moonflower. This  seaweed soup recipe, according to my mother, has a special medicinal value for purifying blood and strengthening your immunity system.

These ingredients might seem unusual and rare to find. Dried seaweed, dried moonflower and dried shiitake mushroom are usually available in Asian gourmet store. I got mine from Tesco Lotus, Thailand. They can be store for a really long time and great for so many dishes.

Fish Ball Soup with Seaweed, Moonflower and Shitake Mushroom

Ingredients: (4 servings)

200 gm ground fish

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground white pepper

6-8 pieces of dried shiitake mushroom

20 gm dried moonflower

20 gm dried seaweed

20 gm dried bean thread noodle

4 cup fish stock or vegetable stock

Preparation

1. Add salt and white pepper in ground fish. Mix well with your hand and form bite size fish balls.
2. Soak dried shiitake mushroom, seaweed, moonflower, and bean thread noodle separately for 10 minutes. Rise and keep aside.
3. Bring fish stock or vegetable stock to boil. Add mushroom, moonflower, and seaweed. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Add bean thread noodle and fish balls. Cook further for 3-5 minutes or until the fish balls cooked thoroughly and the noodle becomes soft and translucent.
5. Check the seasoning and serve hot.

The seaweed soup was really simple to make. It was the ingredients that brought everything together. The seaweed carried the freshness flavor of the sea, and the fish balls were sweet and soft. I had come to like the taste and texture of moon flower. In soup, it’s so tender and soaked with earthy, grassy aroma. If you are a vegetarian, skip the fish balls and use silky tofu instead.

Love,