Have you noticed the main difference between a western soup and a Chinese soup? I was surprised that how thick and stuffed for some of the western soups, especially from the states. It's almost like a full-on meal to me, the actual soupy part was just like a wee bit extra juice inside the bowl.
As for the Chinese soup, it's really focus on the liquid part. The ingredients inside are the supporting roles instead. I guess that's why in Chinese we call it "drink" the soup instead of western's "eat" the soup.
Stuffed pepper soup precooked basmati rice version -
Ingredients (about 5 portions)?
- 2 rice measuring cups/about 1 1/2 regular cups basmati rice
- 500 grams ground beef
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 medium onion
- 2 big garlic cloves
- 1 small bundle flat leaf parsley
- 1 box/about 400ml beef stock
- 1 can/about 400ml total but 200ml solids whole tomatoes
- 2 medium fresh tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Some salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried onion powder
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard
How?
Precook 2 rice measuring cups of basmati rice, should be around 1 1/2 regular measuring cups if you don't have the smaller rice measuring cups on hand. Better to cook the rice the day before and use a bit less water than usual in order to get a more suitable dryer result for this recipe.
Peel and dice the onion. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Cube the fresh tomatoes. Destem, remove the seeds and pith, and dice all the bell peppers. Chop the leafy part of the parsley.
Bring out a Dutch oven or a big pot, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil then switch to medium heat. Wait till a bit warm then add in the ground beef. Cook and mix a bit till the meat changes to a whiter color.
Drain out excess fat if needed then add in diced onion. Cook for couple minutes. Add in garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Continue to cook for two more minutes.
Add in all the bell peppers and stir-fry for about a minute. Drain the canned tomatoes then pour into the pot. Also transfer diced fresh tomatoes to the mixture too.
There we add 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1/4 teaspoon of dried onion powder, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of yellow mustard. Mix and let it cook for couple minutes.
Pour in the beef stock then bring the whole thing to a boil, then lower the heat to keep it at a medium bubbling stage. Just leave it there and cook for around 20 minutes. Stir once a while to prevent sticking on the bottom.
It's time to add the cooked rice, you can bring the rice out straight from the fridge and add to the soup. Mix and cook for couple minutes should be enough. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. I actually added a little more salt here.
Mix in chopped flat leaf parsley and let it cook for 30 more seconds. Scoop and serve.
Some also like to add some shredded cheese to the stuffed pepper soup, but I intended to keep it as "lactose-free" version. However, you can definitely mix in some cheese towards the end for a more "luscious and mouthful" type of comfort.
Other western soup recipes:
- Chicken orzo soup
- Minnesota wild rice soup
- Ham and potato soup
- Caldo de albóndigas (Mexican meatball soup)
- Sopa de estrellitas
